If you use Meta’s Threads app, you have undoubtedly seen some engagement bait in your “for you” feed. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has officially addressed the issue, stating that the firm is “working to get it under control” following an increase in similar posts.
“We’ve seen an increase in engagement-bait on Threads, and we’re working to get it under control,” Mosseri wrote in a thread. He did not specify what steps the business is taking, but said there would be “more to come” on the matter.
Mosseri’s remarks mark the first time the Meta executive has mentioned the issue, which has become an increasingly prevalent topic of conversation on Threads.
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Because the app defaults to the algorithmic “for you” feed, engagement bait-style articles that receive a large number of responses frequently go viral on the app, even if they are the type of content that many users claim they do not want to view.
However, resolving the issue may be difficult because what is commonly referred to as “engagement bait” takes numerous shapes within the app.
There are outright spamming posts that mimic the type of copypasta content that is widely shared on Facebook (here’s an especially egregious recent example). Some accounts pose open-ended AskReddit-style inquiries.
Then there are the rage-bait posts, as Katie Notopoulos of Business Insider recently uncovered.
Those posts, which frequently address sensitive issues, appear to be designed solely to trigger angry comments from other users who have had a provocative opinion from someone they don’t know forced into their timeline.
For example, I’ve read dozens of posts and hundreds of responses on whether small children should be permitted on airplanes.
In her experiment, Notopoulos received more than 1 million views and 5,000 responses to a post about not feeding children who came over for playdates, which was heavily influenced by a two-year-old popular tweet and Reddit post.
While Mosseri and Meta haven’t explained why it’s so simple to trick Threads’ algorithm to go viral with this type of content, it appears to be tied to how the app prioritizes answers when selecting what to show users. “Not all comments or replies are good,” Mosseri stated.
