Amplifying the Wrong Stuff

A friend reached out, perplexed at how a “Coke Nazi” post asking for ANTIFA members to follow a Reddit group ended up in his newsfeed. This post could not be further from who he is.

A possible reason was that one of his friends reacted to the post. He/she could have made a comment of disgust, or have been one of the 92 people to react with an emoji. Also, surprisingly, this post was sponsored, so the Coke Nazi could have been targeting a wide demographic (what is the Coke Nazi's advertising budget?)

But there’s a good probability that a reaction is how it ended up in my friend’s feed. When our friends react to a post - negatively or positively - that boosts the posts ranking. It becomes more sticky. My friends are more likely to see it.

The takeaway: Resist responding, unless you want to boost the post.