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Facebook Wants Publishers To Stop Begging For 'Likes' And 'Shares'

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Facebook is clamping down on so-called "engagement baiting." In the future, users will be seeing less asks in their news feed for "likes" and "shares" and other actions.

Facebook will begin demoting individual posts from people and Pages that use engagement bait. 

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For example, "LIKE this if you're a Pisces!" The company says this tactic seeks to take advantage of Facebook's News Feed algorithm by boosting engagement in order to get greater reach.

The crackdown isn't happening right away, in order to give publishers time to rethink their social strategy.

"We will roll out this Page-level demotion over the course of several weeks to give publishers time to adapt and avoid inadvertently using engagement bait in their posts."

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There are some exceptions to the update. Posts that ask people for help, advice, or recommendations, such as circulating a missing child report, raising money for a cause, or asking for travel tips will not be adversely impacted.

Facebook's goal is to make the content users see more "authentic."

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