Social proof has been a significant part of the entire digital marketing world. Liking, sharing and posting are the bread-and-butter of today’s social and online forum media landscape where content visibility will not only highlight popularity but also credibility. Through those avenues and tactics of artificial engagement, Fake Comments have been utilized in a controlled manner to give content creators and brands an initial shot in the arm with confidence, helping contribute to that overall narrative behind content validation and perceived legitimacy of post or campaign. Admittedly, this approach has ethical questions but no one can deny the importance of fake comments in adding audience trust and brand credibility.
Content creators set off a more powerful opening interaction by pumping up the count of comments beneath their post, suckerpunch-style. Comments are natural social proof — the simple display of a comment count immediately tips online users that there is an existing audience (or community) that cares about what they’re reading. Fake comments, then, would be one way by which you could illegitimately boost the appearance around how many people are actually engaging with this content; hence fuelling even further debate around whether user engagement with profiles has been “fake”. Though controversial, it has been a widely employed tactic in brand promotion and reputation management for organizations trying to get ahead of the pack online.
The Importance of Fake Comments in Content Validation
Social proof was essential to winning the scarce attention of an audience, in a digital space overflowing with content. High value and I’m using that term here as a stand in for engagement, more on that below — content has comments. In this world, Fake comments help them in filling the gap and also provide a little bit of confidence boost for the content creators to break through the noise.
In a survey conducted by [Statista in 2020,](https://www.statista.com/statistics/270596/share-of-us-internet-users-who-use-social-media-comments-popularity-behavior/statisticContainer)report states that around 72% of social media users were believed to trust the content which is most likely to appear with high engagement specifically comments on them. Brands made the content looked like it was being actively discussed and circulated, which gave a facsimile of credibility to the curation that people would find. In fact, posts with over100 comments witnessed something in the order of a 35% increase in organic engagement within 24 hours, compared to less than 20 comments for posts.
They also allowed brands to manage the narrative about their content. Content creators could control the conversation by cherry picks positive feedback, which helped to reinforce their online reputation. This way of also helped in shaping the consumer perception and especially, 65% of users in 2021 saw that they were more likely to engage when the content being read already had a high number of comments.
Infographic: Impacting Engagement Number of Comments
! Impact of Comment Volume on User Interaction [Graph example.comRequestMapping to comment volume/user interaction graph
Posts with more than 100 comments had a 35% increase in organic engagement over the first 24 hours
Content with fake comments received on average 25% more total views within the first week than lenient content.
This graph demonstrated that commenting volume (natural or artificial) impacts audience engagement and a democratic visibility opportunity.
When it comes to boost brand credibility using fake comments
Brand credibility relied heavily on how trustful and reliable the brand was seen to be by consumers. Getting a toehold in the ever-growing digital market was difficult for both new content creators and emerging brands. This is where fake comments reared their ugly head. Because they were effectively creating more presence for their comments, the brands gave the appearance of greater nonchalance among their followers and thus fed into the mythos that they were appealing to a larger audience.
A HubSpot survey 2020 showed that up to68% of consumers are likely to trust a brand based on the non-appearance of participation, particularly user-generated comments. Those comments served as a feedback mechanism that was shaping the way potential customers were perceiving the brand offering. If users started to see a barrage of happy comments, their perception of the brand would be increase giving positive consumer perception feedback.
That shot of confidence was so important when it came to influencer marketing, as faux comments were often the easiest ways to prove clout. Which makes sense, as of 2021 60% of brands are now taking comment volume into account when choosing influencers to collab with. The use of fake comments not only ensured higher ticket deals for influencers but also gave more validation to the quality as they were being considered an authority in their field.
Feedback Loops/ Reputation systems
The evolution of fake comments was not just in their numbers; it started to become normalized as a way to leverage online content montage feedback. Perhaps it is because brands controlled how their content was viewed by flooding the comment sections with positive feedback. This had the advantage to help brands do something similar to reputation management, presenting an augmented, more polished view of oneself.
Whether they were releasing a new product or campaign, brands were often at risk of negative feedback. Using fake comments, they pre-determined their positive replies on the post so when legitimate users saw it; they would feel compelled to offer words of approval. This approach cut into the audience trust, and let more users interact with material already signed off on by some.
WHAT: A Hootsuite study in 2021 found out that 52% of consumers based their purchase (or future interaction with the brand) decision on how comments are written. Such a stat showcases the power fake comments have in establishing a positive online presence, which will then channel prospective consumer dialogues in a good way.
Infographic — Consumer Trust and Comment Sentiment
- ! Pie Chart Impact of Positive Comments on Consumers Behaviour
- 52% of consumers were likely to engage with posts that contained positive comments.
- 68% of users said they would be more likely to trust a brand after seeing other users’ comments on their content
- This pie chart shows that consumer behavior was highly driven by the sentiment that the comments section either reflected, or did not.
Balancing Artificial Engagement with Genuine Audience Trust
Fake comments gave content creators a quick ego lift, but it was not all fun and games. However, depending too heavily on artificial engagement might compromise your audience trust, even if you get away with it…if they ever discover what you’re up to, the fallout would damage your brand credibility. A survey from 2020 found that 48% of consumers would lose trust in a brand if they found the engagement to be artificially boosted.
But where fake comments worked were used smartly and selectively, the comment fakes had become a vital piece of the engagement puzzle, reinforcing natural growth through social proof. This worked as content validation for brands that realized a good balance of artificial engagement and real interactions, which can assist them in establishing a full-length harmonious relationship with the audience. The continued viewer retention and loyalty was provided by brands mixing plastics with real conversations in between, taking it back to the future with artificial engagement encoded in state-of-the-art content.
FAKE COMMENTS It did Also within the domains of content strategy and digital marketing, those “fake comments” rose yet remained a controversial, but still interestingly effective mechanism. These fake interactions built the perception of brands, either through content promotion, audience attraction or reputation management, and arguably gave them the credibility they required in a crowded online space.