If You See This In Your Facebook News Feed, Hit Like!
Happy New Year Boys and Girls!
Sorry the blog has been on radio silence. I’ve been
contemplating its future. I still haven’t come to a decision, so I guess things
will continue on—as is—until I have some sort of blog epiphany. Those happen,
right?
Today I want to talk about Facebook. There are many social
networks out there and I’m active on several of them. Regardless of their
seeming self-sabotage, I prefer Facebook to any others.
What do I mean by self-sabotage? I’m referring to their
need to make constant changes that tend to alienate so many people. Though I
sometimes find it tiring to log on and find buttons/tabs switched from the left
to the right, rearranged columns, or a new font for the notifications…most of
the changes simply take getting used to. But some of those changes are less
obvious and harmful to those of us trying to create a presence on the site.
Most recently (beginning of December), Facebook changed the
algorithm used to decide what shows up in your news feed. Though they insist
they didn’t do it with the intention of pushing for more paid advertising, it
significantly impacted the viewership of pages big and small. So after spending
a lot of time building a following, Facebook can make a simple change that will
leave your viewership in the dark—without the fan even noticing. Basically, some
or all of your posts just stop showing up in their feed. Unless they come
looking for you to see why you’ve gone quiet, they’ll never even realize you
are still out there sharing links to interesting articles, pictures of stunning
sunsets, or asking for input on decoupaging the pew in their entryway.
A common reply to any complaint against Facebook is, “Sorry
that free site isn’t working for you.” The irony is, I used to occasionally pay
to boost posts. It was a great way to attract new followers. WAS being the
operative word. Now when I pay to boost posts, I might increase my view of that
post, but I don’t see the numbers I used to, plus I simply don’t get the
pay-off of an increased following like I used to. Where as I used to see dozens
of new followers, now I might pick up 3 or 5. Obviously, I’ve reconsidered
paying to boost my posts.
The recent change to the algorithm impacts your already
cultivated veiwership – I haven’t even addressed the ripple effects to
attracting new likes to your page, but needless to say, it will be measurably
harder to do if the activity on your page dies away when you stop showing up in
people’s feed.
I’d like to suggest to all Facebook users out there to
please take the time to look for activity from your favorite pages, such as mine: Kai Strand, Author. Browse your
pages feed regularly. You’ll be surprised how many pages are there that don’t
show up in your news feed. As you browse - click like, hit share and/or comment
on any and all activity you like. It is a simple, simple action for you, but
priceless for that page’s chances of more people seeing it. Those actions are
ten times more important now than they were before.
Facebook remains my favorite social media to use, because of
the versatility of what information you can share, the visual of such information,
as well as the ability to interact with multiple people in a conversation. I just
hope I don’t end up talking to myself one day!
I still have a hard time with both FB and Twitter. I think it's a time thing. I know I can schedule posts in both places, but I miss out on the interaction that comes when I do that. If only I could clone myself so I could be in all the places I need to be at once :-)
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to concentrate on the content on my page this year. It auto feeds to Twitter, which auto feeds to my profile (ha ha), so content won't die off completely in those two places. I'll still hop onto those, but my concentration will be my page.
DeleteAnother good place to check regularly is the "other" tab in your FB messages. I've had a few mss sitting in there for months before I saw them. Why all the mss aren't sent to the Inbox, I'll never know.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand it either, Katie. And I always forget to check that other inbox. Thanks for the reminder. (If any FB newbies are reading, the 'other' inbox she is talking about is in a FB profile - not a page :D )
DeleteThanks for this post, Kai. My preference has changed from Facebook, to Twitter, back to Facebook. I've started goofing around with Google+, but I'm not too familiar with it yet.
ReplyDeleteThe idea I have (and this is by no means professional SM advice) is to dabble on as many sites as possible, without completely committing to one. This way, as trends change, I'm not focusing my efforts somewhere people aren't looking. My favorite way to market my book (and in my opinion, the most effective way) is face to face interactions. Unfortunately I don't have the time or money to travel the world talking to people, so I have to fall back on social media.
Very good point, Eric! I find it interesting that I have a different 'audience' on each social media site. Which is why I won't abandon any completely. However, the point of social media is to be social and I don't feel like I engage well when my attention is scattered across the medias. I'm hoping to develop good strong relationships by concentrating my efforts more in one area.
DeleteI love in person stuff too! I would love to visit more classrooms and bookstores and conferences. Oh but to have unlimited funds and a pr person!