The WordPress Reader is usually a fascinating place to poke round and have a look at different individuals’s blog-ish habits. One of many issues that pursuits (and puzzles) me is the like-for-like phenomenon. I believe there are a good quantity of people that do that, and there are some bloggers that I discover liking so many posts that I’ve sturdy doubts as to whether or not they’re truly studying (and even opening) all of these posts that they’re liking.
The like-for-like phenomenon turns into notably apparent whenever you come throughout blogs with excessive engagement numbers however content material that doesn’t in any manner warrant such numbers.
One instance is a website that posts printer drivers. A put up with drivers for the HP Envy Professional 6455 acquired 86 likes, as a result of actually, who wouldn’t wish to learn that, and who doesn’t have an HP Envy Professional 6455?
That pales compared, although, to the 252 likes for a font website’s put up with obtain information for a font known as Not Unhealthy. As a result of once more, who doesn’t wish to embrace that of their day?
Otherwise you’ve acquired the actual property firm that does weblog posts in Spanish and will get >200 likes per put up from plenty of non-Spanish-sounding bloggers.
In flip, if you wish to get a bunch of likes in your posts, you possibly can most likely have a look at the people who find themselves liking posts on the printer driver and font websites and go and like their posts to climb aboard the like-for-like specific.
Does anybody keep in mind Sebastian? He was round final yr and for a short time this yr liking a complete bunch of posts, typically inside seconds of individuals publishing them. There have been a number of studies about him on the WordPress.com assist discussion board (together with right here, right here, right here, right here, and right here), and WP did take away his means to love posts within the Reader, though it seems like he saved creating new accounts they usually needed to do some chasing to maintain up with him. And for those who’re as fascinated by Sebastian as I’m, Google “relatocorto” (the oh-so-creative identify of his web site, which interprets to “quick story”), and also you’ll see that he’s managed to persuade Google that he’s a legit office.
Folks do this sort of factor as a result of it “works”, and other people will preserve doing it so long as there are individuals who will take part in like-for like. I keep in mind Sebastian used to get a shit ton of likes on his posts (which most likely resulted in him earning money off the advertisements he had on his website). He has a Purchase Me A Espresso web page, and he’s had plenty of coffees purchased for him, though I believe {that a} chunk of that’s him utilizing different accounts to purchase coffees for himself to make it seem like he’s fashionable.
Like-for-like could also be a fairly efficient option to get plenty of (fairly meaningless) likes, however the artificiality of it actually doesn’t do it for me. Is that this one thing you’ve observed or participated in?
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