14/01/2018
You know what they are when you see them.
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The auto-follows and unfollows, the auto-comments, the auto-replies on Messenger….
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Bots are everywhere on social media.
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They are spammy, annoying but unavoidable.
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So how do you beat them?
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The truth is, you can’t.
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We humans, simply can’t outdo and outsmart robots.
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The most important thing is to stay true to being human and don’t join the millions of other bots and make the social media world even more bot-like.
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There are 2 things you can do:
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1. Ignore or play along
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It’s your choice. If you can’t tell whether someone is a genuine follower, you can choose not to follow anyone back, until they have done something that proves that they are not a bot. If they follow you and unfollow you because you don’t follow back, they are not the sort of followers you want anyway.
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If you have the time, reply to their bot comment and say something human like “Thanks for your support on ###. All the best with ###!”, or “Glad you love my post on ###. Hope it helps you with ###!”. If there is a human reading the replies, hopefully they will get the message and stop the bot-like auto-comment.
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2. Engage like a human
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When you follow people, if you want them to notice you and engage with you, and potentially follow you back, send them something of value via a DM or comment.
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When you comment, be a human and make it relevant. Don’t give generic comments like “Cool!”, “Nice!”, “Love it!”, that are likely to be lost among the seas of bot like comments (and make you look like a bot). If you love their work, elaborate on exactly what you love about it.
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Make the social media world a better place.
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Don’t be a bot!
