Subjects know they have a problem with the taste of sharing

If you’ve noticed more engagement popping up across your feed, you’re not alone. Meta is aware of the issue and is looking into how to address it, according to Instagram head Adam Mosseri. “We’ve seen an increase in engagement traction on Threads and we’re working to get it under control.” Al-Musari said in the topics In response to comments pointing out the issue.

Thread bait typically covers posts that contain casual questions or calls for open discussions to encourage other users to interact. Since Threads, like Instagram, pays users to see an algorithmic feed of posts by default, getting more interactions can increase the spread of a simple post.

When asked about the comparisons between Threads and X recently Decryption In the interview, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg alluded to the fact that comment engagement was a key aspect of a “very good discussion-oriented platform.”

“Not all comments or responses are good,” Mosseri said. “Mark’s comment has more to do with Twitter’s leadership in the format in which a reply can be uploaded, which is good, but that doesn’t mean every reply should be like that.” The thread to which Mosseri responded cites one example of a bait post, which apparently showed an AI-generated image paired with a teasing look that attracted more than 17,000 responses.

Business insiderKatie Notopoulos I recently experimented with posts that intentionally incentivized users to respond to see if the tactic worked and could be used to abuse Threads’ algorithm.

The tests were “almost too successful,” according to Notopoulos, who found that people were still responding to one post four days after it was initially published, supporting the idea that the platform’s algorithm prioritizes posts with a higher number of comments over those with More comments. Reposts or likes. This motivates people to game the algorithm on platforms like Threads and X that rewards creators financially based on the performance of their posts, even if those posts are meaningless or based on made-up information.

A statement provided to Notopoulos by an undisclosed Meta representative confirmed that post responses are taken into account when determining recommended posts for users of topics, along with how recently the post was published and which accounts and posts users are interacting with.

Mosseri did not reveal how the engagement issue would be resolved, saying only that there was “more to come.”