The Massive Facebook Con (& Why I'm Focusing More on LinkedIn)

I rarely-if-ever like to criticise another person or company. Especially one who I’ve used and gained a lot of benefit from over the years. But I feel so strongly that this is wrong, has to change, and someone has to speak up about it. It’s not life or death, or guns or Trump. But it affects pretty much everyone reading this. 

Facebook are your online drug dealers. Get you hooked. Jack up the fees. And they think they know your friends and who you want to receive updates and content from better than you. They are playing god with the life they got you addicted to online. 

I have no issue with Facebook making money; they are a business. I would, and have, happily supported them for years. In fact I am currently spending in excess of ￡50,000 per month on ads and sponsored posts, giving my pound of financial flesh to the social media giant. 

But more and more they are punishing the very people who filled their coffers. Their most recent update claims to ‘punish’ brands, companies and advertisers, so that you only see what your friends post. My wife told me that all she really sees now is cooking and health videos and content, and a lot of the content and posts she wants to see, she can't. 

I have followed many influencers and people who inspire me over the years, virtually none of which now appear in my feed. But, the most recent thing I click on, and now I see 15 or more posts from the same person that I don’t want to see. Or just randomness I am not interested in. Sure, I can unfollow or snooze posts or people, but how do I access all the people and content I ‘subscribed’ to, and why do Facebook get to choose what they show me and what I can’t see? 

They were more than happy to take the money from the marketers and influencers who wanted to grow their reach. They created ‘pages’ so that you could reach more than 5,000 people. As soon as influencers set up these pages, the fans and followers who WANT to see their content now can. So they like and follow. Oh, but then Facebook restricts what and who you see. 

So then the marketers and brands are ‘allowed’ to pay to get more likes. They can grow their brand and reach. The more they pay, the more followers they get. This seems equitable. 

And then Facebook REDUCE that reach. And then they do it again. And again. It is called an ‘algorithm’ change, when in fact it is a LIE. It is a punishment to all the people who’ve funded their growth. And what’s the only way now to reach your followers that you paid for? PAY AGAIN, of course. They must hit revenue targets and drive shareholder value. And then Mark Zuckerberg comes out with a load of waffle to make out it is so we can see our friend's posts more. 

I’m not the biggest influencer in the world. I have slowly and consistently built a following of 30,000 people on Facebook page. In the early days I might reach 10% of those people. Which is really low. But then it goes down to 5%. Now, if I link out/away from Facebook, even to a valuable article or podcast, which sells nothing, it might reach as few as 200 people. Out of 30,000 who has said they WANT to see my posts. This is quite simply wrong. Facebook already get billions in ad revenue. Now they are putting ads in our private messages, and forcing people to pay for sponsored posts to reach people they either PAID to reach, or wanted to receive their updates. 

I am sure my opinion means nothing to the big-dog-gods. But I feel more and more duped and bait-and-switched into having to pay just to reach those who actually want to receive my posts. This post comes from someone who has really enjoyed, and paid, for Facebook interaction over many years. And steered 10,000s to do the same. 

I am not perfect. I don’t expect Facebook to be either, but don’t treat your customers like idiots. I will be posting more and more on LinkedIn where you can see, read and follow the content you want to, and you asked for. 

Rant over. Back to the things that matter.

Rob Moore