We Are Not Your Friends: Facebook’s Promote scam

Ever noticed that some friends posts or certain pages like Radio Clash don’t appear in your feed, or get dropped even though you’re friends or ‘like’ that page? Dangerous Minds uncovers why this is. Basically unless you pay to promote every one of your posts, Facebook won’t send it to all of your fans of your page (or I suspect your friends (?) since I’ve had friends complain that I’ve dropped completely out of their feed).

I’ve noticed the Promote feature before, and separately friends were moaning they didn’t see my posts in their feed – this puts two and two together.

I can’t afford to promote Radio Clash like this, being an non-profit anti-advertising space –  but turning down the amount (apparently 15% of friends only) Radio Clash and my personal page appears in others feeds is blackmail basically, a scam.

Also it’s why faking for likes or likefarming with buttons or ‘Click to download’ is pointless unless you’re paying to promote on FB, hardly anyone will see your posts anyway.

Shame on you Facebook! I’m sure some will moan that it’s a private company, this is capitalism etc. etc. but I think the line between public and private are increasingly blurred online, with Facebook and Twitter being the shopping malls of the internet – nominallprivate spaces that a large amount of people assume and treat as public ones.

And when a large majority of people online are in those spaces – more than some countries – the question is whether Facebook has any social responsibility to those people? It’s also not clear that other spaces will follow suit, or even will be alternatives…if there was an alternative to Facebook (STILL awaiting my Diaspora invite – private betas are SO 2002 – Hipster Ed) I’d be there in a heartbeat. But Google+ have emulated all the flaws of Facebook without adding much; and I’ve trashed my account there.

I do hope this is the start of the end for Facebook, but it’s a chicken/egg situation – does the alternative need to exist before people will move, Friendster style – or will they create it out of the ashes of the former? Time will tell.

EDIT – just read this useful tip – if you want to hear from Radio Clash in your feed (and not 10% of you) then: open the Radio Clash page, move the mouse near the “Like” button on the gear symbol. Click on it and select “Add to the interest lists”. by doing so, you will keep on reading our posts in your feed.