Facebook changes coming

Just as you were trying to get your head around the pesky FB algorithm, Mark Zuckerberg has announced new changes that will affect businesses:

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In some ways I’m glad. I like a lot of pages and want to see them but I hate them clogging up my newsfeed overtaking my friends and family posts.

I used to use the interest lists but facebook have gotten rid of those a while ago. Now I add all my pages to a friends lists. Once added to the list, if you unfollow the page, this will mean it will no longer show in your main newsfeed but all you have to do is click on the friends list you created and all your liked pages will be together in their own newsfeed.

Here’s a video of how to do it (not my video but the one I used when I was looking for a way after they got rid of the interest lists)

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Great idea Carol :slight_smile:

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There is a Pages Feed on FB so I’ve just noticed, so that’ll show just the Pages you’ve liked. Thing is how many people know about it and will use it to see our small business pages? As a business it’ll be even tougher to get seen on FB.

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I don’t really use FB for keeping up with Family and Friends anymore so I only ever use the pages feed section. I’ve even got it bookmarked at the top of my page.
I go on there at least a couple of times a day to see what you have all been up to but I know that FB still hides a lot of these posts even though I only use pages feed specifically (That should show FB that is what I actually want to look at for their algorithms)
If I refresh the page I see a whole new set of posts - that shows you how easily you can miss things from the shops/ sellers that you love.

I find it kind of frustrating from a potential buyers point of view but I guess FB doesn’t really want to be about businesses after all unless you pay for their promotions.

This is interesting news. It will refocus Facebook as a social media tool for friends and family to share things, and I suspect ultimately the longer term plan is to make all business pages fee-paying. Individuals can still share websites they have found, and if people like those products so much, then I suppose they’ll have the chance of being added to an email marketing list to keep updated.

If you are a business that primarily relies on Facebook for your sales, then I suppose you will be “happy” paying a fee/ advertising to keep that business going, but if you are a business that doesn’t get sales from Facebook, then I suppose you won’t (?!) mind that fact that you start to be charged, as it doesn’t contribute much to your business so you will just stop using it.

I did think to myself yesterday - what would I do if I couldn’t use FB anymore, and it did spurn me on to do a few things that I have been putting off for ages (contacting shops etc). So although it might mean a change in how I structure my day, maybe it’s not such bad news in the longer term. But who knows?! :slight_smile:

The pages feed used to be my most useful tool, since I liked a page as my page it was an easy way to keep business and personal separate.

Then there came one of those changes, so my pages feed only shows five items that FB choose today, not whatever my liked pages have posted. This explains why a post by my page only gets seen by about 10% of the pages likers. I can’t even see my page feed on my tablet unless I use a special business app.

Now another hit at businesses using FB. I pity those who have spent large amounts on adverts that will now be seen by even fewer people. I suspect they will soon go elsewhere.

I agree that the idea that FB are doing this “to improve their users’ mental health” is most likely a spin they have put on a decision to make all business pages (maybe even fan pages) pay a monthly fee to use the site. I don’t think that Mark Zuckerburg is nearly so concerned about his users as he pretends to be. You can call me a cynic if you like! In some ways, it is much easier to budget for a monthly fee and to assess whether it is good value for money, so this may be a good development in some ways. The only thing I wonder (idly) is that if the key to a large reach on FB is how much engagement a post gets, how many furry pets will be bought in order to improve smaller pages reach?

Sam x

The pages feed doesn’t show me all posts from all my liked pages or in chronological order so I don’t use it.

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Well, I hate to disagree about the furry pets improving reach Sam -but I posted a kitten video on my page the other day and I lost 10 likers - lol! I can guarantee that if I post my rabbit or cats I always lose at least one liker that day too. I still post them though as that’s part of my life!

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Depending on the Monthly fee though and the drop in viewing figures, I may possibly have to pay. I’ll weigh it up first though as I guess there could be a massive downturn in FB users in general if they can’t get to see the things they liked. After all - they liked a certain business page for a reason so who is FB to decide that it’s not good for them to continue seeing it?

Obviously a massive marketing strategy but I wish they would be more transparent about it!

Also using the pages feed you have to be following the pages which mean they will still clog up my main newsfeed.

Maybe I see it differently to most people but Facebook is social media, not a free selling or advertisement platform. Yes it’s been a useful tool but if it goes or I have to pay then I will just have to decide what to do at that time.

Carol @knittingtopia I share the same views about social media. They were created so users can connect, they were not intended for business use. They haven’t really helped me, but they do help some sellers with promotion and running their business, especially if they have a large following already. However, users cannot rely heavily on them or they get disappointed and frustrated because those sites keep changing the rules.

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I think some small businesses use them in more of a blogging/ general review of their day/ talking about processes/ what have I baked today/ lets chat about crafts etc kind of way rather than just blatant advertising and promotion.
I like to see what people are up to rather than just what they have to sell - I think it may be more social than Zuckenberg would like to admit. Lots of crafting communities aren’t just there to promote their work, they actually do like to interact in a social way.

FB is a business though and it can change the rules whenever it likes - it has been nice to have a platform like that to get noticed on though. I think I have made quite a few actual friends through my “business” page.

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I’ve noticed a big change in my shop stats over the last few days. Nearly all of my views used to come from Facebook and these often resulted in sales. This last week I’ve hardly had any Facebook views in my stats and sales seem to have slowed down.

This worked great for me. So much more organised now and I went through and made sure to like all my favourite pages as my personal profile. I can now just click between them all on the same screen. Thanks for the tip xx

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You are most welcome Claire :blush:

I noticed a lot more ads in my feed yesterday and most were not relevant to me at all!

Can’t say I’ve noticed any difference to be honest.

I’m not sure why but my average post reach seems much higher than usual!

It was generally between 500 and 700 views per post (I’ve got almost 5,000 likers) but at the moment it’s around 1300 views per post!
I’m not sure what’s going on - lol!

I did notice that a link to a product I had on the dark side only reached just over 100 people though - so maybe that’s where the changes are happening - when you link to a big corporation?

Or maybe the worst is yet to happen!!