Typically, human beings love shortcuts. This has been our identity from time immemorial. Even the earliest human beings were always in search of shorter paths to the hunting grounds to out-compete their neighbors. However, shortcuts do not always save time neither do they guarantee good returns. This article explains why it’s a never a good idea to implement the idea of hacking social media algorithms in pursuit of instant results.
What Is a Social Media Algorithm Hack?
Some people tend to think about some complicated coding or unethical tactics when they hear the term “hacking.” However, our focus is on the simple side of hacking which doesn’t involve spoofing or altering social media code to gain some advantage over your competitors. Our focus in this article is on the simple practices and tactics that tend to evade restrictions on follower growth incorporated into the specific platform’s algorithms.
Why Are These Hacks a Bad Strategy?
Here are some reasons why we think hacking social media algorithms is a bad idea:
1. Hacks Don’t Align with Your Real Business Goals
Typically, your marketing strategy should align with your business goals. Although a particular hack may increase your reach on social media for a while, who are you reaching and for what purpose? These hacks can get you the desired number of followers, but if the numbers aren’t converting to customers, then it’s of no value to your business.
Ask yourself whether a majority of the followers you gain form hacks are people who are interested in your business. What is the probability of these followers converting into customers? The point is that real marketers always aim at increasing the return on investment for their companies. Keep in mind that reach and engagement alone especially if the people aren’t interested in the business can’t produce the desired results.
2. Some of the Hacks Work But…
We can’t deny the fact some these hacks work, and they will help you increase your number of followers, but most of them tend to work for a limited time and purpose. For instance, a slight change in the network will disorient the hack and make it worthless.
3. It Locks you into a Cold War that is Difficult to Win
Keep in mind that for every hack that you develop to gain more followers, the engineers are always ready to counter it and render it worthless. Hacking tactics technically throw you into a cold war with the site engineer, a war you can’t win.
For example, the latest Facebook newsfeed change served as a wake-up call since it brought down thousands of the so-called hacks. It proved that if the site engineers decide to bring down your reach, then they can do so in seconds and you’ll be left with nothing.
