Facebook Is Not A Place For Free Media
A long time ago, in an internet galaxy far, far away, “The Facebook” was a great place to get free media and marketing for just about anything. I would put a link up to an interview I had given, with another link to the book I was discussing, and within a few days I would have anywhere from 3-5 books being shipped from CreateSpace. (I told you it was a long time ago)
When we posted our status, everyone on our friends list, and usually their friends, all saw our post. We could link to a website or amazon page or blog, and lo and behold, our link would be spread across the former social media company’s network.Well, things changed.Facebook morphed from a social media platform to a data mining operation. The algorithm changed over and over. These days, instead of seeing the most recent news from our friends list, only top stories are displayed. Even when we choose the “most recent” option, we don’t get posts from everyone on our friends list in our news-feed. Only a select sampling shows up. If we scroll down far enough, we’ll notice something interesting, the same posts mystically re-appear, over and over and over and over and over. And perhaps even worse for those of us seeking “free media,” post a status containing a link, and very few people will see that posting.The days of reaching people to sample our products, in my case writings, are pretty much over. Sure we can post in certain groups, but even there, TPTB are limiting our reach.Why?To get us to purchase advertising. Which I have done, and I am ashamed to admit, continue to do. What’s the definition of insanity?In addition to not being a very effective advertising platform, ads are “reviewed” and anything not falling into a rigid, puritanical, moralistic standard is rejected. Funny how made-up news receives no such scrutiny.
As someone who in the past has owned more than one business, it is hard to get upset about this. For its flaws, Facebook is a free platform. Yes they mine our information to an at times alarming degree, but we use their software, storage, hardware, hubs and other unseen administrative support for a zero outlay of dollars. Even if it was still a “social media” platform, the intent was to connect people, not allow us to freely sell our wares.It is tough to walk away from Facebook, for me, and many my age, we remember when it was an effective means to expanding our brands. However, there is a reason younger entrepreneurs, hell younger people in general, don’t use Facebook much these days. Perhaps it is time for me, and those others in my age group, to start taking a clue from the more technologically savvy generation. However, since you may be reading this on Facebook; I guess I haven’t walked away from the site …. at least not yet.
Leonardi identifies primarily as a storyteller rather than a formal academic, emphasizing raw, narrative-driven impact over rigid grammatical structures. His personal website and bibliography can be explored via his Amazon Author Profile.
About the Author
Doc Joe an author who frequently writes about heavy psychological, emotional, and health-related themes.
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