What Is An Engagement Pod?
As someone who works closely with social media, it’s essential to keep an eye on the ever-changing algorithm and trends which develop online. In some cases, that means I spend a lot of my time combing through websites like Social Media Today or The Drum; but if I’m honest, I use it as an excuse/enabler for me getting addicted to apps like TikTok.
Engagement pods are perhaps one of the most unethical trends I’ve seen over the past few years. Alternatively called DM groups or Instagram pods, this weird way of networking transcends the typical follow/unfollow you usually experience on Instagram. If you’ve ever tried to build an account on social media, you are most definitely aware of the follow/ unfollow method.*
*If you’re unaware, you simply follow a massive amount of accounts on social media in the hopes they will return the favour. If they don’t, then you just unfollow them later on. But that method is very shady and unethical for most bloggers and every self-respecting marketer. I prefer a slightly different method of networking, which involves following accounts that have already demonstrated a clear interest in your niche. The process of ‘Networking’ is as follows:
Find an account with a similar niche to you, i.e. skincare reviews
Go on the likes on the most recent picture
Pick an account you like the look of
Go engage with their page! Like their photos, comment some support and then give them a follow
Repeat!
Then once a week go through the section called “least interacted with” on your following list. If it wasn’t meant to be, it wasn’t meant to be!
This accomplishes a few things…
Increases your chance of a follow back
Increases your chance of discovering some new accounts to fall in love with
Means that any follower most likely is an engaging one and not unfollow anytime soon (helping you maintain a fixed engagement rate).
It’s just a more ethical way of growing your page.
You may be wondering why I’m talking about these two methods on a post about engagement pods. Well, follow/unfollow, and engagement pods are both similar in the fact they work purely for vanity.
Instead of spending hours following as many accounts as Instagram will permit (which is not a lot before you get marked as spam). Engagement pods work to add loads of likes, comments and shares to your content. Both of these methods work to give the impression of a successful account. But in reality, they actually are a massive detriment to the growth of your page.
But that's for later down in this post. I wanna take a moment to tell you how I personally discovered engagement pods.
At work, we’re actively encouraged to learn more about the world of social media, it’s our bread and butter and a consistently evolving world. So one day I discovered this Youtuber (Whom I now despise), who made an invasive documentary on the subject.
Like Mike says, Engagement Pods are costly to get into (sometimes charging up to £2,000) and provide a consistent level of engagement for your page. The main goal is that this engagement helps identify your content as "value-adding" and boosted through the various filters put in place by the algorithm. But the truth is it's probably doing the opposite.
One of the critical goals of ANY social media algorithm is they want you to stay online for as long as possible. So when choosing relevant content to appear on your feed, the algorithm wants it to add value to your experience on the app and encourage you to keep scrolling. One of the key ways to find content that is value adding is to look for a material with high engagement ( if other people like it, you probably will too). That is where Engagement Pods were birthed.
But the critical problem is that an engagement pod is a group of set individuals. Their consistent engagement actually de-values your content as social media platforms like Instagram, and LinkedIn sees their engagement as a show of solidarity rather than them finding it insightful or value-adding.
To me, engagement pods are purely a vanity exercise, they provide a false sense of success on your page and can potentially offer new opportunities. But to any self-respecting social media manager, blogger or marketer, the practice is just cheating.
Pro's
It can amplify the reach
For a short period, asking people to engage with your content will ensure that it is branded as value-adding and will subsequently appear on more peoples feeds. This can lead to further opportunities for your business or brand.
An excellent way to make friends and network
It's always lovely to make blogging friends!
Con's
It's only half the fight.
The posts that get the pod treatment can still be downgraded in the first algorithm filter (which searches for spam) or have its value diminished by a human reviewer.
Time-consuming
Yes, people engage with your content. But you'll have to engage with theirs too! Do you really want to spend all your time liking and supporting other peoples accounts?
I'm guessing the answer is no! But if you've taken the time to watch the video linked above, you'll be aware that doing that can turn a bit nasty.
It's not authentic
I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a small amount of highly engaging followers who like my content, read my blogs and share my page compared to thousands of passive followers who don't interact with me.
The whole process of forced engagement makes it clear that your fiddling the system. For example, if you only have ten likes per photo but 10k followers, then there is a substantial chance your buying likes. That's not authentic and doesn't give a good impression to your followers.
You'll probably be marked as spam or have your account banned.
It depends on what social media platform you're using, but there is a good chance that you're account will be marked as spammy or shadowbanned from new users.*
*If its just people from your engagement pod who engage with the post the algorithm will think that only these people are enjoying your content, the chance of it being shown to others will decrease rapidly.
Will most likely damage your credibility.
If you're trying to look popular or boost your engagement rate in the hopes of sponsorships, then being a part of an engagement group will seriously damage your credibility and any chance of getting any deals in the future.
But does it work, though?
You're not getting valuable engagements, so you're not going to get useful results. I think people forget how sophisticated social media systems are and how quickly your page can be shadowbanned for spam or irrelevant content. I personally believe this is not the way forward unless you or your clients want the impression of success and not the benefits of REAL success.