Engagement farming means posting content designed to make people like, comment, share or tag, so an account builds up interactions it can cash in on later. It's another name for engagement bait: Wikipedia sends the term to its clickbait article, which describes engagement bait as manipulative content designed to prompt interaction.
The News Literacy Project puts it more plainly: a post designed to get you to interact with seemingly harmless content, through likes, follows, shares and comments. The harmless look is the trick.
Why accounts farm engagement
Usually for what comes after the post. The News Literacy Project says these accounts often aim to build a large following first and make money from it afterwards. Wikipedia adds that the interactions are later monetised or used to push products and narratives. The post itself is just the bait.
The five tactics Facebook went after
The News Literacy Project lists five types of engagement bait that Facebook targeted:
- Vote baiting
- React baiting
- Share baiting
- Tag baiting
- Comment baiting
The names tell you what each one asks for: your vote, your reaction, your share, a tag of a friend or a comment.
What Facebook announced in 2017
In December 2017, Facebook (now Meta) said people dislike spammy posts that goad them into likes, shares and comments, and gave "LIKE this if you're an Aries!" as an example. It said it would show posts using the tactic less in News Feed, with stricter demotion for Pages that use it repeatedly. It later extended the demotion to comments in November 2018, and to videos with engagement bait in the audio in January 2019.
The exception for real questions
Here's the specific bit that matters if you run a page. The same announcement said posts asking for help, advice or recommendations wouldn't be demoted by that update. Asking your followers to recommend a good accountant is a real question. Telling them to like a post if they're an Aries isn't. This page sticks to what Facebook announced between 2017 and 2019; other platforms set their own rules.
Engagement farming FAQs
Is engagement farming the same as engagement bait?
In practice, yes. Wikipedia redirects the farming term to its clickbait article, which describes engagement bait.
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What are examples of engagement bait?
Vote baiting, react baiting, share baiting, tag baiting and comment baiting, according to the News Literacy Project.
Does Facebook penalise engagement bait?
Facebook announced in 2017 that it would show such posts less in News Feed, with stricter demotion for Pages that use it repeatedly.
Why do people farm engagement?
To build a following that can later be monetised, according to the News Literacy Project.
My view on farmed posts
In my view, farmed engagement flatters the numbers more than it helps a business. Write posts people would comment on without being told to, and measure what you get with an engagement rate calculator rather than counting comments. If your reach has slipped, look at why your Facebook page reach is dropping before you reach for a bait tactic Facebook has said it demotes.
