Pet Peeve Thursday: That Devil Facebook

I'd long ago run out of things to rant about, but the more I deal with Facebook, the more I dislike that evil empire.

Facebook started out as a great place for people to hang out and to connect. And it was free.

Then it went public. Already the beginning of the end was in sight, but the end has been creeping closer and closer ever since.
Several years ago, Facebook (and my publisher) began pushing people with profile pages to change up to a LIKE page.  (Once called FAN pages.)  You could merge all your friends from your profile page into a like page and were promised FAR BETTER coverage.  More people would see it. (That was the fantasy at least.  Many authors often LOST all their profile friends, and the process isn't much better several years down the line.)

A lot of authors fell for that and soon found that there were a lot of tradeoffs in having a like page.  Your fans/friends could post, but those posts would be relegated to a sidebar where people HAVE to go to look at them. No more face-to-face communication.

And then Facebook came to promo Like pages. That is, pay for a $5 ad and MORE people will see your page. Only now it's turned out PAY US TO PROMOTE OR WE'LL RESTRICT those who liked your page from seeing you.

Since January, I've started two new pages and have been intensely posting to see how I could get around that "pay-for-promo" (only  the suggested payment per post is now THIRTY DOLLARS!!!).  The thing is, who can afford that?  Even big companies like General Motors have pulled back and stopped advertising on Facebook because they saw NO VALUE.

If I post a link on a page where I have more than 3000 Likes, I might get 500 views.  On a page where I have 1200 likes, if I don't post a link, I might get 50+ views.  Post a link and I'll get 20 or less views.  They actually PUNISH you by posting a link to a blog, website, or anything that takes a Facebook member OFF the site.  (Even when you post a link to another FB site, they still limit the views from people who already made the effort to like your page.)

So what am I going to do?

I'm not totoally giving up on FB. I do like to know what my friends are up to, but to see their posts, I have to go to their actual pages. How many of my readers will think to go to an author's page on a regular basis?  I'm thinking not many. What can you do to keep seeing my posts (and those of the other LIKE pages you've favored)?



Rant over. You may now return to your daily grind. But if you want to know what your favorite authors, TV personalties, and musicians are up to, I hope you'll think about visiting their Like pages.
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So needy I'm begging for LIKES

A LOT of people LIKE Will Ferrell.

I'm not kidding.  All you have to do is go on Facebook and you'll see that over six MILLION people LIKE him. In fact, 6,958,686.

Meanwhile, only 1,696 people LIKE me.

Over the weekend, I conducted an experiment.  I asked people to help me get six million new LIKES on my Facebook page. I got a LOT of comments, and a bunch of people (17 in fact) even shared my post and asked their friends to like my page; 21 of them actually did, and I'm so very grateful.  (Now they just need to go out and buy every one of my books.  Thanks!!!)

Is 6,000,000 LIKES too lofty a goal? When Will set up his Facebook Page, did he ponder getting nearly seven million LIKES?  Is he ultimately shooting for ten million?  Should that be my goal, or should I shoot for a more reasonable goal, like ... maybe 1,700?

Let's face it, my Lorraine Bartlett name is the least known of my three (that you know of) writing names. Then again, my L.L. Bartlett FB page only has 924 Likes.  (I don't think most of my Jeff readers are on Facebook.)  In contrast, my Lorna Page has 2,348 Likes.  (Lorna has a LOT more readers on Facebook.)

Why do I even CARE how many Facebook LIKES I have?  Is it because I was never popular in school?  Is it because my best friends don't even live near me so we can go and have lunch or share of cup of coffee?  Why do we humans strive to be LIKED.

I don't know, but it seems to be a need we all have.

So, if you're so included, and you think you might LIKE me, here's the chance.  Click the links below.

Thank you!

Lorraine on Facebook | L.L. on Facebook | Lorna on Facebook | Jeff Resnick Mysteries on Facebook
If you liked any (or all) of my pages, feel free to have a slice of virtual cake.  (No calories!)  If you didn't ... well, just wipe the virtual frosting from around your mouth and nobody will know.