Posted June 17, 2025 by Laura Odelius
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Woman using a social media app on a mobile phone. Reaction icons are floating up from the phone.

It's confirmed! Kind of accidentally, but still...

Starting with some posts on Threads over the weekend and then reported in Social Media Today on Sunday, it appears we have confirmation that Meta does in fact suppress social media posts that include links in the body of the post. This is especially the case with posts from professional pages (e.g., musicians, writers, and personal brand pages) and organizational pages (businesses, nonprofits, associations, etc.).

Have you been wondering why your landing pages and blog shares aren't getting traction? Why nobody is clicking on your Bandcamp links? Yeah, us too!

Photo on Post, Link in Comments

Turns out you are not imagining it. What people have observed and suspected for a long time has been verified, at least informally, by Meta's own internal help tips. Stick a photo on your post. Save the link for the comments. It does mean that you might have to get a little creative sometimes about how you phrase the post. But it's worth it to make sure your link actually circulates.

Screen shot of post feedback from Meta: Optimize your content's reach Factors impacting this post's distribution [warning icon] A link is in your post's caption Links in your caption can be distracting and reduce your reach. Try adding a link in the comments instead. [check icon] Your post contains a video or photo The extra content in your post may help increase your reach.
From the Meta-horse's mouth: "Try adding a link in the comments instead."

What About OG Tags?

Does this mean you no longer need to worry about including Open Graph metatags on your website? Well, no. In our opinion they are still a good idea.

For one thing, they'll help the link look good when it's shared in the comments, as well as on LinkedIn and in some HTML emails. Regardless of how or where your links are being shared, and whether it's you or someone else sharing them, you want them to look good.

For another thing, the thought that goes into configuring OG tags for your website helps ensure that your web content is well structured, complete, and consistent. Thoughtful web design that meets your needs and the expectations of your site visitors is always a good thing!

Happy Posting!

So go ahead share your pages on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads! Just make sure you include an image with the post, and put the link in the first comment. (And pin that comment on Threads...but that's a topic for another day.)