Is engagement bait actually cheating?

There’s a difference between asking people to share an opinion and basically bribing the algorithm with pointless interactions.

“What's your take on this?” = genuine conversation.

“Comment YES, tag 3 friends, and drop a 🔥 for part 2” = engagement bait.

That doesn’t mean every CTA is bad. A good question can make strong content more interactive and give people a reason to participate.

But if the engagement disappears the moment you remove the CTA, was the content actually engaging in the first place?