By Alex White

Have you noticed familiar names popping up in the comments of every single one of your favorite accounts’ social media posts? 

Perhaps this person has an unhealthy infatuation with the creator or thought leader’s online presence, or maybe they’re a highly-trained bot. While both could be true, there’s another, more harmless possibility. I’m referring to influencer pods.

What are influencer pods?

No, influencer pods aren’t some new and trendy earbuds made exclusively for today’s top brand ambassadors. Rather, the term refers to groups of social media users who engage with each other’s content via a quid pro quo relationship. The overall gist? You like, repost, comment on my social posts, and I’ll do the same for you. It’s really that simple. 

How do influencer pods work?

How often do you see creators and thought leaders asking followers explicitly to comment, like, and repost their work? It’s not uncommon, but why issue a public call to action for engagement when you can make a concerted effort to farm engagement in a mostly private group? 

Influencer pods form and communicate on the very platforms they intend to operate on, with groups most often appearing on Facebook and even LinkedIn. However, influencer pods aren’t limited to these large, mostly public communities. Sometimes, smaller groups are moved off-platform to private apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, and Slack.

Like an exclusive group with benefits, there are some rules. The first rule of influencer pods clubs? Don’t talk about influencer pods clubs. Just kidding, mostly. While each group of these like-for-likers differ, they share a similar set of guidelines. Usually, they’re duty-bound to engage with a certain number of pieces of content a day within a certain timeframe. Failure to do so may result in participants being removed from the engagement group

The perceived advantages of influencer pods

Users have a lot to gain from influencer pods. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits they may enjoy by participating: 

• The algorithm advantage: While no algorithm has been completely unlocked, savvy social users noticed many social platforms prioritize content with high engagement.
• Networking: Those in pods are often in the same industry, an obvious road to relationship building and idea sharing.
• Reach new users: Reposts from those in the same industry can help influencers reach new, relevant audiences.
• New opportunities: Higher perceived engagement may result in outreach from a brand that uncovered your content. 

The perceived downsides of influencer pods

Perception isn’t always reality. Users who engage in influencer pods may see diminishing returns for their efforts, along with reputational implications:

• No likes for you: Algorithms may catch on to activity perceived as suspicious and flag content, diminishing reach and in turn engagement.
• Is this (in)organic?: Large fluctuations in engagement from pod members may push users to ask, “Is this …read more

  Source:: Top Rank Blog