Platforms
Giveaway entry mechanics: what's allowed, tolerated, or prohibited
A draw your entrants can recompute themselves
Seed published before the draw, public drand randomness, shareable video. Free for entrants.
Create an accountVerify an existing draw"Follow, like, share to your story and tag three friends." That instruction has become a standard, and it stacks four mechanics of which only two are clearly allowed. Here is the sorting, mechanic by mechanic.
Following and liking: allowed
These are the two safest actions. They impose no financial consideration, don't mobilise the entrant's personal network, and require no false statement from them.
One caveat, from law rather than platforms: these actions must remain free of charge. As soon as entry implies spending — a paid subscription, a premium-rate call, a product purchase — the promotion changes legal nature.
Commenting: allowed, with a limit
Asking for a comment is fine. What becomes problematic is asking for a comment of a certain kind that forces a false statement: "say you love this product" turns the entrant into a bought witness.
That's less a platform rule than a fair-trading rule, but it backfires quickly: a review obtained in exchange for a chance to win is not a review, and several national laws treat the practice severely.
Tagging friends: tolerated, not encouraged
This is the most widespread and most ambiguous mechanic. Meta states that a promotion must not use friend connections to be administered. A strict reading would condemn any tagging requirement; observed practice is more permissive.
The distinction that holds is this: tagging as an engagement signal is tolerated; tagging as the entry-collection mechanism is not. If your tool counts entries by reading mentions, you are administering the promotion through friend connections.
Two practical guardrails:
- never make the number of tagged friends a chance multiplier — that turns a personal network into currency;
- never require tagged accounts to be real friends, an unverifiable condition that invites gaming.
Sharing to a story or profile: avoid
This is where the written rule is clearest and practice furthest from it. Meta's policies say not to use personal timelines to administer a promotion. "Share to your story to enter" falls squarely within that description.
There is a practical problem nobody mentions: a story disappears in 24 hours. An entry based on a story is an entry nobody can verify the next day — neither you, nor the entrant disputing their exclusion.
If sharing matters to you, treat it as an uncounted bonus, not an entry condition.
Tagging yourself in content: prohibited
No nuance on this one. You cannot ask someone to tag themselves in a photo where they don't appear. The rule targets an old reach-hacking practice, and it is enforced.
Paying to enter: prohibited everywhere
YouTube says it explicitly: entry must be free of charge. TikTok moves purchase-based mechanics — virtual currency, gifts — into the gambling category, with the constraints that follow. And under French law, financial sacrifice pulls a promotion out of its protective regime.
Three different sources, one conclusion.
The table, at a glance
| Mechanic | Status | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Follow | Allowed | No consideration, no network mobilised |
| Like | Allowed | Same |
| Comment | Allowed | Unless the comment's content is dictated |
| Tag a friend | Tolerated | Prohibited as collection mechanism or multiplier |
| Share to story | Avoid | Personal timelines + unverifiable next day |
| Tag yourself in a photo | Prohibited | Requires a false statement |
| Buy, pay | Prohibited | Free entry required, plus legal reclassification |
Key takeaways
Following, liking and commenting are safe. Tagging a friend is tolerated as long as it is neither the collection mechanism nor a chance multiplier. Sharing to a profile or story is inadvisable: platforms restrict the use of personal timelines, and a vanished story makes the entry unverifiable. Tagging yourself in content where you don't appear is prohibited, and any form of payment is prohibited everywhere.
FAQ
How do you grow an account without asking for shares?
By asking for follows and comments, then making the promotion worth relaying spontaneously. A share bought with a chance to win is statistically worth little: it comes from accounts that will unfollow after the draw.
Can you give more chances to your most active entrants?
Yes, if the rule is written before entries open, identical for everyone, and verifiable. An announced weighting is fair; a weighting discovered afterwards is exactly what an entrant calls rigging.
How do you prove an entry actually happened?
By not depending on ephemeral content. An entry recorded through a form, timestamped and included in a list sealed before the draw stays verifiable months later. A story is not verifiable the next day.
Do these rules change often?
Policies evolve without notice, and changes apply to your next launch. The useful reflex is to re-read the relevant platform's policy before each significant campaign, rather than relying on what was true last year.