Why Social Platforms Don't Want You to Share Links

You could be wondering why whenever you post photos on your social media people engage more than when you post something with a link.

There are two reasons to this:

?? Algorithm

?? Audience Convenience.

Tell me more...

Algorithm

When you put up a post that contains photos or videos, the algorithm works in your favour to push the content to a larger audience. This however is determined by the 80/20 rule that most algorithms nowadays operate on.

80% of the content will be visible to people that don't follow you then 20% will be seen by those that follow you - this is most common on platforms like Instagram and Tiktok.

Engagement will determine how higher your numbers grow - if they comment, like and share, then the algorithm will figure that that is content that people want to interact with. Thus it will be pushed to even more feeds.

It is also best to note that algorithms are always changing depending on user preferences and consumer trends.

For instance, you will most likely garner more likes, comments and views on a platform like TikTok just by using a trending sound. You don't necessarily need to have a huge following so as to gain more engagement.

The same applies for Instagram and Facebook reels.

There were times when hashtags were the determinant of getting good engagement, but that only seem to still work on platforms like X.

A post with a link is however a different case. Social media platforms don't want you to direct people out of the platform, they want you to make people use the platform even more.

Links most times lead people to other platforms, which reduces the activities on that particular social media platforms.

Whether you are sharing a link that redirects to your blog or to your other platform, you are most likely to get a low engagement since the algorithm won't push that type of content further.

It will most likely share with a potion of your audience. If that audience engages well on that post, you could be lucky to get further boost.

But if it happens that only one or two people are the ones that engaged on it, then you are bound to a flop.

Audience Convenience

Users on social media platforms are lazy to click on links. They will most likely read that title that is on the embedded link and if they feel like engaging, their comments will be based on how they digest that title.

What you will end up with is probably good engagement on social media but less traffic on the website link you shared.

If a user is on LinkedIn, he's most likely here to connect and just catch up on new updates of their connects. They don't really want to be directed to websites outside LinkedIn. Unless they are really interested.

Also, it can really be hard to separate a legit link from a hacker's link. Most hackers use social media to get their victims. Clicking on random links could not be a good idea, especially if you don't trust the source.

Social media platforms have also realized that people don't really like posts that are shared alongside a link. X, for instance, has come up with a way on which even if you share a post with a link, they hide the link and only show the featured image.

That is a great strategy to minimize people from clicking on links, or getting turned off whenever they stumble on a post that has a link.

How to hack the system

• Put up a post as a normal post with the photo or video, then in the comments put the link that leads to that publication.
• Summarize your post into a carousel or threads
• Optimize your website so that you can get organic traffic
• If you are sharing evergreen content, harness platforms like Pinterest and Reddit for traffic. Links are less limited by algorithm there.
• Have catchy title on your website posts so that when you share on social media it attracts their attention - however, avoid click baits
• Have your website link on your bio so that you can always lead interested people to your website by terms like "link in bio''.
• Share links directly on stories/ status only