I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook.  I love that it brings the world to my laptop, but I hate that it’s a constant game of wits with an unseen entity.  I’ve been on the warpath of late, with Facebook, in my efforts to keep up with the consistently inconsistent changes and the fact that 95% of my blog’s Facebook page followers never see my posts.  I liken it to being in a tennis match with Facebook, only I’m not allowed to have a racket.

Facebook’s Ballgame

There are days in which I tell myself, “Hey!  It’s their ballgame.”  And you know what? It is.

But what strikes me as particularly unfair is that Facebook created the fan pages to help grow their business/network.  They sucked us all in.  Not just the bloggers and business owners, but all of us who follow pages.  And now that everyone has been sucked in, business/blogger page owners are at their mercy. Brilliant move on the part of Facebook, I’ll give them credit for the marketing ingenuity.

So, in my current state of frustration, I remembered I wrote this little diddy just shy of 1 year ago and I think it’s time to dust it off and share it once again.  Let me know what you think.  Good, bad, or otherwise!

From March 2013:  Just exactly what is an algorithm?  According to Wikipedia, the informal definition is thus:

While there is no generally accepted formal definition of “algorithm,” an informal definition could be “a set of rules that precisely defines a sequence of operations.” For some people, a program is only an algorithm if it stops eventually; for others, a program is only an algorithm if it stops before a given number of calculation steps.^{[12]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm}

Okay, that does nothing for me and if you’re like me you can read that statement a dozen times and still not know what in the hell the brainiacs are talking about.  I think the powers-to-be make it as convoluted as possible to keep us in the dark. As a blogger though, that ugly somewhat evil term/word/definition has become part of my daily vocabulary and I have to say I’m not a fan, it annoys me and it makes my head hurt!

Yep, it feels like that!

I bring this up because it is the almighty algorithm that wreaks havoc with our Facebook followers.  I have read many a blogger forum post and I’ve done the research, but just when I think I’ve figured it out, it morfs into a fog of dead brain cells.  Obviously, my college years had nothing to do with the understanding of technology.  I’m still befuddled by the telephone.

Remember these?

So, here’s the thing… of our 720 (We now have 1,090) Facebook followers, on average, only about 10 – 15% (now 5%) of those 720 followers see our posts.  Why?  Because of the algorithms.  And yes, partially because of when people are online, but in my opinion, it’s more about the algorithms.  Haven’t you ever wondered why you “like” a FB page and then rarely see the posts show up in your newsfeed?  Algorithms.

Read more about it here, where they actually use Star Wars characters to explain it.  Seriously. They do.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/16/facebook-page-reach/

May the force be with you.

And here’s the real killer.  If you have a FB page, you can “promote” your posting.  Ever tried it?  I have.  Here’s how it works.  You agree to pay up to $10 to ensure that your post goes out and is viewed by as many FB peeps as possible within a 3-day period, or until you hit the maximum amount you agreed to pay.  As an experiment I tried it.  I promoted a post for $5 and it hit over 3,000 views.  I promoted a second post for $5 and it hit over 4,000 views.  Great you say?  Ah, but here’s the catch.  I promoted a third post for $5 and it only hit 4oo views.  Why the sharp drop off?  Beats the hell out of me, but I stopped promoting because I think it’s a racket!  * Facebook now charges up to $100 for post promotion.  The more you pay the more exposure you get.

No, not that kind of racket!

In order to continue to follow the pages you like you need to click a like and/or write a comment, even if it’s something as simple as posting a happy face in the comment box.  By doing so, it will help to keep your favorite FB pages in your newsfeed.

So, what’s a blogger to do?!  Well, sometimes you might see our latest posts repeated on our FB page; in an effort to give an opportunity to all of our followers to catch our posts.  When you’re cruising our FB page and you come across our photos and/or quotes of the day and other interesting tidbits, just give us a quick click of the like.  Even better… leave a quick comment from time to time, short and sweet that’s all it takes and it will go a long way in keeping us (and your other favorite pages) in your newsfeed.  It isn’t a cure-all but it helps!

And, while I’m on my little soap box, if you read our blog posts and you like what you read leave us a little comment from time to time, or share the post with your FB peeps. Or even better, sign up to follow us by RSS or email. By doing so you’ll help our site grow and find a broader audience. And, you’ll make my day!   I read every single comment (seriously, I do) and I respond to each and every one.  So, keep us in your sites and give us a click of the like and leave a comment or two and a happier me I shall be!

These are so not my shoes!

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