Facebook is one of the most popular social media networks out there, but when you take a look at the other networks, Facebook is the one that comes off worst in terms of complaints. So why is it so popular if it has so many problems? I typed this into Google and here are the top 3 articles…
Why is Facebook so Popular?
Why Facebook is so popular – the psychology behind it (no longer available)
Why is Facebook so popular?
I’m pleased I didn’t choose this phrase as my blog title – a little bit of competition, and that’s just the top 3, there are pages and pages of the same!
Ok so if you actually go and read these articles, you should get an idea why Facebook is so popular. But that’s not what my post is about, it’s about why I am considering dumping Facebook and concentrating on some of the other social media networks I have profiles on.
1. No Clients
In the 11 months I have been running my business I have not gained a single client directly from Facebook. My business page on Facebook has been running from day 1 and I have nearly 300 likes and a fair bit of interaction on there but as far as I am aware none of my clients have originated from seeing me on Facebook.
2. Time
It takes up a lot of my time sharing and interacting on Facebook and ensuring I am sharing what people want to read. The Insights on Facebook are very handy when it comes to checking out what your fans like best, which leads me onto my next gripe…
3. What I Share
I share all my blog posts on my page, I also share articles I find online which I think my fans will enjoy reading. I make regular updates, maybe not as many as I should but there is always something new each day. But, and this is a big BUT… hardly any of these things get people talking as much as when I post an image of my cat or my puppy, or something totally unrelated to my business! I posted a couple of images of my back garden a couple of months ago and they have been one of the top talking points on my page so far… It’s madness! I know that people like to see the personal behind the business and that’s fine, but when interaction on ‘business’ articles is lacking compared to the personal updates, it’s time to reconsider what you’re looking to achieve.
4. Technical Issues
Facebook is always having technical issues of some sort, in fact every day I have one problem or another. Yesterday I shared an image from another page and even though it showed as a share on the original image it never made it to my page. This has happened a lot, and not only is it frustrating but also not great if others are sharing things from my page and the same thing is happening. Among other issues are insights not being up to date, comments disappearing and just last week it took 15 hours for a message to arrive in my page inbox!
5. Reduced Reach
As you may know Facebook have now bought in promoted posts (only to certain pages I might add – I don’t have the option yet), well according to a few other business pages I follow the reach of your updates seem to be restricted now, or is it just now? One fellow business owner has mentioned her posts are being caped at 20% reach – how can we create a successful page when Facebook are restricting who sees our updates?
I found this article about just this issue – The changing face of Facebook (the below is taken from the article)
As you can see, this isn’t great… I spend a lot of time on Facebook trying to get my information out there but in fact on average only 16% of my Facebook fans are seeing it. In this article there is a great call to action about how you can make sure you see all the updates from the pages you like, I would suggest doing this. Another way is to hover over the ‘liked’ button and make sure ‘Show in News Feed’ is ticked.
Here are some examples from my page… a personal style update and a business update, check out the reach!
Over the next few weeks I will be taking a closer look at my Facebook strategy and making the decision whether to stay or go!
