Every day my alarm clock wakes me up at 6 am. I get up (reluctantly most days) and go downstairs to the kitchen to make my coffee. While I wait I scan through Google news. I run a social media outsourcing company, so I always stop and read on that subject. I can go for weeks without finding anything revolutionary but for the last 10 days nearly everyday I read about Facebook.
Every time I read about their new approach and caring for greater emotional good of their users I can’t stop but wondering – is that really the reason? We know that Facebook is a for-profit organisation. They make no secret about that – so all that emotional awareness just wasn’t working for me.
Peer pressure and teenage anxiety has existed as long as the human race. I had it, when the Internet wasn’t even a word! Social media or not – when people are prone to anxiety they will get anxious. It is our own choice whether we go on Facebook or pick up a phone (to make an actual phone call like we used to do) and find out that our friends were having a fab time while we were stuck at home.
So what is Facebook and Mr Zuckerberg actually doing??? It was really bugging me until this morning when I finally got it! Thanks to this article https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/01/21/76896/is-this-the-end-for-publishers-on-facebook
It’s not about any greater good it’s all about money as always I just didn’t see it why as clear as I saw it today.
“Many news organisations, bloggers and businesses have grown reliant on Facebook to spread information — articles, videos, infomercials — to their followers without paying for ads. The changes could jeopardise that route to their audiences, though some speculate it could be a ploy to force these companies to buy more Facebook ads.”
Yes – that’s just it.
Facebook realises that we use business pages freely to talk about our business and we do it without paying. Why should we? Publishing on our own business pages is much cheaper (!!) and nicer while giving people a choice of connecting with us or not. And this, my friends, is the point – Facebook is looking for more money from business people like us. We simply had it too good and too easy for too long.
I always find Facebook advertising very complicated, with too many variables. You feel intimidated by it, you feel you need raining to get it right. I did advertise on Facebook – without any spectacular effect – and yes you may say I did it all incorrectly but if there is greater science to Facebook advertising how can it be for everyone? Come on Facebook be fair if you want us to pay you for advertising by making it simpler and let us be successful with it. How about changing your advertising algorithm so advertising becomes a win-win process: we pay you – you give us better reach.
Advertising can be made simpler. To me the LinkedIn advertising structure is much more straight forward – so it can be done. Yes, you must pay and yes, they make it obvious to you that the more you pay the more you are likely to be seen by more people, but at least the process of setting it up is easy.
To finish this rant (and I really don’t rant very often) I came to the conclusion that as businesses we have to start exiting Facebook and move to different platforms which will be happy to have us.