Examples of Trolling for Traffic Leaking?

[pluto]

did some reading and lurking around the threads. some real gold. there's probably something in the forums about this already, but couldn't surface it using search so figured I'd ask here

saw a number of posts from @CCarter around "trolling" as a part of traffic leaks. The examples I saw, the troll accounts were used purely just to test the boundaries of the forum/community.

I saw hints at how trolling could lead more directly to a traffic leak but couldn't find any examples. I generally suspect that you could use a troll account to troll your original post and then get a bunch of people to come to your defense and thus make your post/thread viral from its heavy engagement, but I'm curious if there are any studies/posts/threads/examples about effective use of drama + trolling to execute traffic leaks?

In my mind, it'd go something like:

Account1: "Looking for tips on how to ride a scooter in the city. I came across this article (LINK) of tips but not sure I trust these because i got different advice from a friend about the approach."

Troll Account2: "this is the most obvious shit in the world. you and your friends are dumbasses. stick with tricycles, they're probably more your speed."

arguments ensue....would that be the idea? would love to see more examples of trolling for traffic leaks in action

 

[Ryuzaki]

would love to see more examples of trolling for traffic leaks in action

Pretty much every single politics news article's comment section. Video game forums. Apple product forums. Nearly every comment section on any post on Facebook. The comment sections of any Reddit post.

You don't need to see examples of it to validate that it works. You know how it works which is why you can produce imaginary scenarios of how it would work.

The best way to deploy drama is to polarize people with the opening post or the link you're sharing. That way it's not dependent upon coming in on a fake account, although you can definitely stir the pot like that. This is all the clickbait fake news does now. Polarizing article full of lies with clickbait title, get everyone sharing it, edit in an apology at the bottom 2 days later for all the wrong information.

Same goes with your "hiring a linkbuilder" question just above. You answer it while you're asking it. You already know the answers. It'll cost you an arm to do it right with the right people. It'll cost you an arm and a leg for average results with some hot shot agency that isn't any better than someone in the trenches. Or you can waste money hiring some goofball on Upwork. That's the spectrum. You can set up the payment structure however you want if they're flexible, or if they're not then you'll be paying how they want you to pay.

 

[pluto]

Pretty much every single politics news article's comment section. Video game forums. Apple product forums. Nearly every comment section on any post on Facebook. The comment sections of any Reddit post.

You don't need to see examples of it to validate that it works. You know how it works which is why you can produce imaginary scenarios of how it would work.

The best way to deploy drama is to polarize people with the opening post or the link you're sharing. That way it's not dependent upon coming in on a fake account, although you can definitely stir the pot like that. This is all the clickbait fake news does now. Polarizing article full of lies with clickbait title, get everyone sharing it, edit in an apology at the bottom 2 days later for all the wrong information.

Same goes with your "hiring a linkbuilder" question just above. You answer it while you're asking it. You already know the answers. It'll cost you an arm to do it right with the right people. It'll cost you an arm and a leg for average results with some hot shot agency that isn't any better than someone in the trenches. Or you can waste money hiring some goofball on Upwork. That's the spectrum. You can set up the payment structure however you want if they're flexible, or if they're not then you'll be paying how they want you to pay.

this is helpful! thank you! it's less about validating it works and more to find examples to get the gears in my head cranking on how to do it properly and to come up with more ideas to test. examples feed me inspiration. i've gotten a bunch of traffic leaks to work, but the drama related ones seem to be the ones that go most viral, and yet the one I've struggled the most with. i even find myself following juicy drama online and saying "crap, i got sucked in, i wish i could engineer that"

good to know on the linkbuilder question. was hoping there'd be some "oh just go here and there are smart people who are good at outreach or have outreach automation that doesn't completely suck, so it'll be cheaper" but i suppose that's too good to be true. i guess i'll have to stick to doing it myself haha. if we are talking "doing it right with the right person", do you know how much I should be expecting to pay? like $10k a month was what I was seeing....but man that's a lot