Faceblock

I manage some corporate Facebook pages–nothing overly elaborate–but a few places where companies can keep fans updated on events, share media with customers, and offer support and advice. Basic communication.

I’ve advertised with Facebook, too, though “sparingly” doesn’t begin to describe it. Plenty of people have told me how awesome Facebook advertising really is, and I’m sure for some businesses it makes much more sense than others, but I also think plenty of businesses mistake “Likes” for “sales.” They are, in fact, distinct. Facebook is rarely your main sales tool. It’s a means of staying in touch with your customers.

At least, until recently.

So the other day a co-worker alerted me to a little rant originated by George Takei (yes, that George Takei) about how Facebook has started changed companies to actually communicate with their fans. Basically, posts were reaching only a small percentage–about 15%–of fans, but you could pay Facebook to have them reach more.

Checked into it. Seemed true.

Then there was a post from someone purported to work at Facebook explaining that it was all a misunderstanding and that posts pretty much always reached only a small percentage of fans, and the advertising was a way to ensure you reached more.

This appeared legit, but of course didn’t square with reality. So you’re telling me a dude who signed up to pay attention to my page is ignoring my posts, but will click on an ad or something for them?

Lot of fuzzy undefined things there. In fact, Facebook definitely was trying to encourage page owners to pay to promote posts, but were they blocking fans otherwise? If so, this would have to be something they’d just started doing after Zuckerberg’s shareholders had realized they owned part of the world’s biggest free waste of time. Which meant we should have befores and afters, right? Companies that had measured their reach and watched it suddenly drop–like right before they started being asked to pay to promote their posts.

Where were those?

Apparently, they’re out there. And pissed.

Does Facebook own the rights to distribute your Facebook shit? Absolutely. Total dick move to play that card? Completely.

Interesting to see where this all goes.