I’ve noticed that a lot of business content online is very active and very empty at the same time. This is engagement farming. It’s noise with a strategy.
Plenty of comments. Plenty of likes. Plenty of “reach”.
Very little wisdom.
Somewhere along the way, engagement became the goal instead of the outcome. People didn’t ask whether content was useful, thoughtful, or honest, and started asking one question only:
Will this make people react?
That shift is how engagement farming crept in and quietly took over our feeds.
What engagement farming actually is
Engagement farming is content designed primarily to trigger interaction, not understanding.
The goal isn’t to help someone think, decide, or learn.
The goal is to get any response so the algorithm keeps the post alive.
It feeds on basic human impulses:
- The urge to belong
- Discomfort with silence
- The instinct to agree, correct, or defend
- Fear of missing out
It’s not clever. It’s just effective.
The usual suspects
Once you see it, it’s everywhere.
- “Comment YES if you agree”
- “Like this or the algorithm won’t show my posts”
- “Part 2 coming tomorrow” when part 1 said nothing
- Rage bait dressed up as “just my opinion”
- Fake vulnerability followed “anyone else?”
And yes, it includes some softer, socially acceptable forms too.
“Thoughts and prayers” as content
This is uncomfortable, but it needs saying.
“Thoughts and prayers” isn’t always insincere. Some people genuinely don’t know what to say, and silence can feel wrong, especially online.
But as a pattern, it’s become the emotional equivalent of a like button.
Easy to post.
Safe to agree with.
Signals care without requiring action, learning, or discomfort.
As content, these posts perform well because:
- No one can disagree without looking heartless
- The comments fill up quickly
- The poster appears compassionate
But nothing actually changes.
Real care doesn’t always need to be visible.
When empathy becomes a performance, it stops being empathy.
Generic questions: engagement farming in its purest form
Then there are the posts that exist purely to make people type something.
You’ll recognise them instantly:
- “Favourite film with Robert De Niro. GO.”
- “Is there anyone left with zero tattoos?”
- “Prove me wrong. No word starts with C and ends with E.”
- “Tea or coffee?”
These aren’t conversations. They’re slot machines.
No thinking required.
No context.
No risk.
From an algorithm perspective, they’re perfect.
From a human perspective, they’re empty calories.
When businesses rely on these, they often confuse activity with progress.
A comments section is not a community.
It’s just a roll call.
Tagging famous people: borrowed attention, borrowed credibility
Another classic form of engagement farming is tagging famous people who have nothing to do with the post.
You’ll see things like:
- “What do you think, @veryfamousperson?”
- Posts written at someone who will never reply
- Name-dropping disguised as conversation
The hope is simple, visibility association.
If they reply, jackpot.
If they don’t, you still benefit from the implied relevance.
Here’s the issue.
If your point only feels important because a famous name is attached to it, the idea probably isn’t doing much on its own.
Borrowed attention doesn’t build authority.
It just signals insecurity.
Why this all works (and why that’s the problem)
Algorithms reward activity, not depth.
So content shifts from:
“Is this useful?”
to
“Will this get a reaction?”
The result is a feed full of noise:
- Emotion without responsibility
- Opinions without insight
- Visibility without trust
High engagement gets mistaken for good marketing.
They are not the same thing.
AI didn’t invent engagement farming. It just made it faster.
Engagement farming existed long before AI.
AI simply put it on steroids.
AI is very good at producing content that looks human enough to trigger reactions:
- Relatable hooks
- Outrage takes
- Faux-vulnerability
- Generic empathy
When people hand over their voice without judgment, everything starts to sound the same. Same hooks. Same prompts. Different accounts.
Posting more feels productive.
Saying nothing just happens faster.
AI isn’t the problem.
Unthinking use is.
If you wouldn’t say it out loud in a real conversation, don’t let a tool post it for you.
What this does to small businesses
For small and solo businesses, engagement farming is a quiet trap.
It can:
- Attract the wrong audience
- Create the illusion of momentum
- Push you into performance mode
- Build reach without trust
You end up visible but stuck.
Busy but unclear.
Engaged but not chosen.
What authentic engagement actually looks like
Real engagement doesn’t shout.
It looks like:
- Saves instead of applause
- DMs instead of public validation
- Repeat readers, not viral spikes
- People thinking, not reacting
It’s slower.
It’s less flattering.
It works.
A simple gut check before you post:
- Would I care about this as a human?
- If no one commented, would it still be worth saying?
- Am I inviting thought, or just reaction?
If your content collapses without bait, it probably wasn’t doing much to begin with.
Attention isn’t impact
Engagement farming trains people to react on cue.
Good marketing respects their intelligence.
One feeds the algorithm.
The other builds trust, which is what actually grows a business.
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