by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
Some birthday present, huh? January 11 (my birthday) will definitely be one for the books when it comes to Facebook changes.
By now I’m sure most of you have heard about the Facebook announcement made that day. Mark Zuckerberg has rocked
our social media world with the projected changes that have already begun
rolling out.
Today, I’m going to try to help you understand how this affects
us as writers and authors.
Overview of What’s
Happening
Facebook is returning to the heart of what it was created to
be. Originally FB was started as a social place to connect with friends. Over
the years, while it has at its heart remained social, the area of people to
brand interaction has grown exponentially. This has led to a lot of complaints
as the platform became crowded with advertising.
To alleviate this, FB has instituted a number of measures.
They began with the Edge Rank Algorithm as they tried to anticipate what users
wanted most to see in their newsfeeds, and now has moved to severely limiting page
updates.
In the update there’s a lot of emphasis on why interacting
people to people is a good thing. Whether we agree with the premise or not,
this is the way FB is choosing to move forward. Our job is to find a way to
continue to connect with the readers who use FB on a regular basis.
Breaking it Down
- First: One of the things we see several times in Zuckerberg’s announcement is wording that talks about the importance of people to people interactions. This is in contrast to people to brand (which means professional pages) interaction. So we’re going to see a reduction in posts from pages in our newsfeed.
- Second: Facebook isn’t limiting all brand to people interactions. Any brand (Page) that shares updates that lead to conversation and interaction will still be seen. But again, this will be greatly reduced.
- Third: It will take a few weeks for everyone to feel the effect of this change, but the update states, “As we roll this out, you'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard -- it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.” This quote shows that this change to affect every single professional page. Expect to see a significant drop in interactions on professional pages.
- Fourth: Pages that share content that doesn’t encourage or receive interaction will lower that page’s visibility. So having no updates is better than having updates that are ignored.
What Do We Do Now?
- Don’t panic. Although the changes coming are fairly drastic, we can look on this as a challenge. Our goal as authors should be to connect with our readers and advertising has never been a good way to do that.
- Don’t jump ship. It’s tempting to throw up our hands and lament the death of professional pages. That isn’t the case right now, so it doesn’t make sense to shut things down. Neither does it make sense to leave FB altogether. Let’s give this some time to play out and see what comes next.
- Don’t start advertising on your personal profile. There’s nothing in the update that implies this, but those who run FB aren’t stupid. They’ve got to anticipate that possibility and my guess is that they’ll be watching for advertising posts on personal profiles and will be quick to crack down.
Bottom Line
- My overall plan is to take a wait and see attitude.
- I’m going to quit using a scheduling program to post to FB. Because of that, I’ll cut back on the number of things I post there every day.
- I’m going to stop posting to my groups from my page. My plan is to disconnect all my groups from any page I have them attached to. I’ve already heard of several groups that have seen drastic reductions in visibility when a page shares within a group.
- Finally, I’m going to work harder to post things that generate honest conversation. As frustrating as this change seems, I know that anything that pushes me to dialogue more with my readers will lead to greater loyalty and the ability share the words God has given me in a more meaningful manner.
There have been a lot of experts in the publishing field who
are sharing their thoughts. I suggest you take time to become informed on what’s
happening and their recommendations. Here are two I suggest you visit:
In the meantime, we should remain calm and watch what happens
next. Only then will we be able to devise a strategy to move forward.
I’d love to know your thoughts about this latest FB change.
Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below.
Don’t forget to join the conversation!
Blessings,
Edie
TWEETABLES
Edie, I appreciate this post. I noticed that when I began posting regularly on my FB author page that my engagement numbers declined drastically. I was told by others that it was because Facebook wanted me to pay money to promote posts. I've heard mixed things about promoting posts as an unpublished writer. In the posts I've already put up, I always try to encourage conversation by ending with a question. Sometimes people would answer, but most of the time . . . not. With the new rules, I'd love suggestions on how to encourage conversation. Do you have suggestions?
ReplyDeleteJeanne, that's the question we're all asking. Anyone who can give you an answer that works is a certified genius! LOL! However, I do have some suggestions. Here's what I would do: 1) reduce the number of posts you share on your author page and go deeper than an open-ended question. Tie it to something that a) going on in your life (people love to interact with personal situations) b) is happening in the world right now.
DeleteDuring this transition time, try to focus on going deep (have more meaningful interactions) instead of going wide (reaching hundred of people with one post). And don't panic! Blessings, E
Thank you, Edie! This helps clarify the changes I have been seeing. It helps me see ways I can begin to change focus in my posts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your explanation and insights. I wouldn’t have understood what any of it meant.
ReplyDeleteNorma and JPC, I'm so glad I was able to help! Blessings, E
DeleteThis is good to know, Edie, since I'd planned this year to try and build my professional page readership. I guess I'll just hang out where I've been, on my personal page, and enjoy it. I'll still post some on my professional pages, but I'm going to wait and see before I spend too much time there. I appreciate you always keeping us up to date.
ReplyDeleteKim, that sounds like a good plan! Blessings, E
Deletehullo Edie, i'm taking the same stance, wait and see... i do have one question i've not seen addressed, Facebook parties. i've done an online party for each of my releases, and attended several others. by nature, they are discussion oriented, Q&A, so it sounds like they'll garner the numbers FB is looking for. what say you???
ReplyDeleteRobin, great question! From what I've been able to tell, the FB parties haven't been affected, IF they're run through a group or personal profile. Blessings, E
Deletethanks Edie, i'll be sure to invite you to my next one! blessings to you too!!
DeleteEdie, Here's one comment I have. I've fallen in love with Hootsuite. Since I've begun using that, I've been able to manage my social media accounts from one location in a shorter period of time, which is a Godsend since I'm working full time plus and writing as well. It's a bit distressing to realize that it may not be worth it anymore even though when I use it for my personal Facebook page, I strive to post things that people can interact with. If I have to go back to only posting two or three times a day, it's going to once more become unmanageable. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteJennifer, you can still use Hootsuite for your personal profile. For a professional page, like an author page, I’m going to cut way back—to 1or2 Times a week. And I’m going to make sure I have time to interact with the post. Yes, it’s a huge pain, but it’s better to do that than risk losing all visibility. I hope that helps, Blessings, E
DeleteIt does very much so. Honestly, I get so little exposure on my author page that I'm considering discontinuing it. Thoughts?
DeleteI apologize for being dense, but I don't quite understand your paragraph that starts with the point that you're going to stop posting to your groups from your page. When you say "your page," I'm guessing you mean your professional page (vs. your personal page)? Which groups do you mean? Would that be all that you belong to, or ones that you run? Closed groups or open ones? And what's the reason for disconnecting them. Is it because generally only one or two people reply when you answer a question or offer a suggestion within a group?
ReplyDeleteYou definitely are NOT dense! Great question! I'm going to start with the basics so everyone knows the terminology. A personal profile is where people FRIEND you (there is no such thing as a personal page). A professional page is where they LIKE you (this would be like an author page). A group is a place you JOIN. Almost a year ago, FB allowed PAGES to start groups, interact with them and connect to them. Since this new announcement on Jan. 11 has happened, any group that has a page connected to it is seeing (or going to see) a drastic reduction in views. I hope that makes things clearer. I’m sure you’re not the only one who was confused. I apologize for not clarifying this in the post! Blessings, E
DeleteEdie, I had the same question about disconnecting groups. I've joined several groups from my Personal Profile page. Do you advise "unjoining" these groups? Or is group membership from a personal profile page something different from what you mean? Thanks! :)
ReplyDelete