Experiment Reveals Threads App Susceptible to Rage Bait Engagement

September 12, 2024 at 5:19:14 AM

TL;DR Threads, Instagram's social app, is full of engagement bait, prioritizing comments over reposts or likes. Katie Notopoulos tested this by posting rage bait topics, which garnered significant engagement. Rage baiting can flood feeds and annoy users. Meta claims replies are just one factor in their algorithm. Engagement bait works well on Threads due to its user base's inexperience with such tactics. Threads is still evolving, and engagement bait may not dominate forever.

Experiment Reveals Threads App Susceptible to Rage Bait Engagement

Katie Notopoulos from Business Insider conducted a study revealing that Threads, Instagram's Twitter-like app, is rife with engagement bait. The platform appears to prioritize comments over reposts or likes, making it susceptible to manipulation. Notopoulos tested this by posting engagement-bait questions and rage-inducing content to see how the algorithm responds.

Notopoulos speculates that Threads' "For You" algorithm heavily weights posts with numerous comments. This is similar to Reddit's approach, where comments indicate a post's interest level. Unlike Twitter, where retweets spread content, Threads encourages replies, making personal anecdotes and advice-seeking posts more engaging.

Experiment with Rage Bait

Notopoulos posted about controversial topics like tipping, social etiquette, and parenting to provoke strong reactions. These posts, designed to be infuriating, succeeded in generating high engagement. Rage baiting, a tactic used on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, often garners attention by provoking outrage.

The experiment was highly successful, with posts spreading beyond Threads to other social media platforms. However, this raised ethical concerns as people unfamiliar with Notopoulos' usual content took the posts seriously. This highlighted the potential for rage bait to mislead and annoy users.

Meta's Response and Creator Incentives

Meta stated that replies are just one of many signals used to recommend posts, emphasizing personalized feeds based on user interaction history. Threads also has a bonus program rewarding creators for high-view posts, though the specifics of this program are unclear.

Threads, still in its early stages, is evolving. While engagement bait currently dominates, future changes could alter the platform's dynamics. Notopoulos concluded her experiment, acknowledging the ethical implications and the potential for future shifts in how Threads operates.

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