fans. This alarmed me, because I wasn’t sure I would be able to maintain the engagement with my fans. I posted this on my page:
“FB USED TO ALLOW FANS TO ELECT TO SEE ALL POSTS BY SELECTING ‘ALL UPDATES’ FROM THE RIGHT HAND CORNER OF A POST. FOR COMMUNITY PAGES SUCH AS THIS, THOUGH, FB RECENTLY DECIDED THAT ONLY CERTAIN FANS WILL SEE CERTAIN POSTS, AND IT PLANS TO ASK ME TO PAY FOR MORE FAN VIEWS.
I UNDERSTAND THAT FB HAS TO MAKE MONEY, ESPECIALLY NOW THAT IT IS PUBLIC, BUT IN MY VIEW THIS DEVELOPMENT TURNS THE NOTION OF ‘FANS’ ON ITS HEAD.”
My general concern was that the wonderful, freewheeling marketplace of ideas was about to be gobbled up by the companies most able to pay to have their messages delivered. I certainly would not be able to fork out thousands of dollars per update to ensure my fans saw something I’d shared.
My frustrations did not go unnoticed. Another engineer at Facebook, Phil Zigoris, responded quickly, respectfully assuring me as follows:
TO THE ESTEEMED MR. GEORGE TAKEI, I SAW YOUR POST EARLIER (AT THE TOP OF MY FEED, IN FACT) ON SUPPOSED CHANGES TO THE WAY YOUR POSTS WERE DELIVERED TO FANS. I WORK AT FB AND EVEN WORK ON THE PRODUCT YOU DESCRIBE, AND I WANTED TO DROP A NOTE TO SAY THAT WE’VE CHANGED NOTHING ABOUT THE WAY PAGE POSTS ARE DELIVERED TO FANS. I STILL SEE YOUR POSTS IN MY FEED ALL THE TIME (KEEP ‘EM COMING). THE MAIN POINT OF CONFUSION WE’VE SEEN IS THAT PAGES DON’T REALIZE THAT THEIR POSTS WERE NEVER REACHING 100% OF FANS. IF YOU GO TO YOUR PAGE INSIGHTS, YOU’LL SEE THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE.
AND IT MAKES SENSE IF YOU STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT: THERE IS JUST NO WAY TO SEE ALL OF THE STUFF HAPPENING ON FB IN YOUR FEED. PERSONALLY, I HAVE OVER 700 FRIENDS AND HAVE PROBABLY FANNED 1000S OF PAGES, THERE IS NO WAY I CAN SEE ALL OF THEIR POSTS IN MY FEED EVERYDAY. FORTUNATELY, FB DOES A PRETTY GOOD JOB RANKING CONTENT BASED ON THE PEOPLE AND PAGES I INTERACT WITH THE MOST. SO NATURALLY, GEORGE TAKEI AND TACO BELL ARE USUALLY AT THE TOP OF MY FEED.
ALL PROMOTED PAGE POSTS DOES IS OFFER AN EASY WAY FOR PAGE ADMINS TO PAY TO PROMOTE A POST USING FB ADS USING FUNCTIONALITY THAT ALREADY EXISTED. A LOT OF BUSINESSES USE POSTS TO PROMOTE SALES, CONCERTS, ETC AND ITS AN EASY WAY TO GET MORE DISTRIBUTION AND WE’VE GOTTEN A LOT OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM PAGES ABOUT THE PRODUCT.
While this addressed some of my technical ignorance, it left open the question of whether money was going to tip the balance in favor of big corporations when it came to Facebook “real estate.”
The question was ripe enough for even The Wall Street Journal to take interest. A reporter called and interviewed me about my thoughts on the matter.
Here is an excerpt from that interview:
WSJ: ARE YOU FRUSTRATED BY THIS NEWS?
MR. TAKEI: I AM STILL LEARNING HOW FACEBOOK WORKS AND TRYING HARD TO KEEP UP WITH ITS MANY CHANGES. AND I UNDERSTAND THAT FACEBOOK HAS TO MAKE MONEY. BUT WHAT IS FRUSTRATING IS THAT THIS OFFER COMES DURING A TIME WHEN I SAW MY GENERAL REACH (43 MILLION PER WEEK) INEXPLICABLY DROPPING BY 25% DOWN TO 34 MILLION, EVEN AS THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THE PAGE WAS RISING (TO NOW OVER 2.5 MILLION PER WEEK) AND THE NUMBER OF FANS WAS GROWING AT AROUND 7,000 PER DAY.
I ASKED MYSELF, IS FACEBOOK DOING SOMETHING TO SHRINK MY FAN REACH, AT THE SAME TIME IT IS TELLING ME TO PAY TO REACH MORE OF THEM? SO YES, IT WAS FRUSTRATING TO FEEL PRESSURE TO PAY TO REACH FANS.
WSJ: ANY PLANS TO PAY FACEBOOK SO MORE FANS CAN SEE YOUR POSTS?
MR. TAKEI: I DON’T CURRENTLY HAVE ANY SUCH PLANS. NEARLY ALL OF MY POSTS ARE JUST THINGS I FIND FUNNY, OR TOUCHING, OR THOUGHT-PROVOKING. THEY HAVE LITTLE TO DO WITH ME PERSONALLY, SO I CAN’T SEE MYSELF PAYING EXTRA FOR THOSE.
WSJ: WILL THIS HAVE ANY IMPACT ON YOUR FACEBOOK PRESENCE?
MR. TAKEI: FANS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BECOME EDUCATED ON HOW THE CONTENT THEY BELIEVE THEY HAVE SIGNED UP FOR IS ACTUALLY HANDLED, AND AT TIMES TAKE PROACTIVE MEASURES
“FB USED TO ALLOW FANS TO ELECT TO SEE ALL POSTS BY SELECTING ‘ALL UPDATES’ FROM THE RIGHT HAND CORNER OF A POST. FOR COMMUNITY PAGES SUCH AS THIS, THOUGH, FB RECENTLY DECIDED THAT ONLY CERTAIN FANS WILL SEE CERTAIN POSTS, AND IT PLANS TO ASK ME TO PAY FOR MORE FAN VIEWS.
I UNDERSTAND THAT FB HAS TO MAKE MONEY, ESPECIALLY NOW THAT IT IS PUBLIC, BUT IN MY VIEW THIS DEVELOPMENT TURNS THE NOTION OF ‘FANS’ ON ITS HEAD.”
My general concern was that the wonderful, freewheeling marketplace of ideas was about to be gobbled up by the companies most able to pay to have their messages delivered. I certainly would not be able to fork out thousands of dollars per update to ensure my fans saw something I’d shared.
My frustrations did not go unnoticed. Another engineer at Facebook, Phil Zigoris, responded quickly, respectfully assuring me as follows:
TO THE ESTEEMED MR. GEORGE TAKEI, I SAW YOUR POST EARLIER (AT THE TOP OF MY FEED, IN FACT) ON SUPPOSED CHANGES TO THE WAY YOUR POSTS WERE DELIVERED TO FANS. I WORK AT FB AND EVEN WORK ON THE PRODUCT YOU DESCRIBE, AND I WANTED TO DROP A NOTE TO SAY THAT WE’VE CHANGED NOTHING ABOUT THE WAY PAGE POSTS ARE DELIVERED TO FANS. I STILL SEE YOUR POSTS IN MY FEED ALL THE TIME (KEEP ‘EM COMING). THE MAIN POINT OF CONFUSION WE’VE SEEN IS THAT PAGES DON’T REALIZE THAT THEIR POSTS WERE NEVER REACHING 100% OF FANS. IF YOU GO TO YOUR PAGE INSIGHTS, YOU’LL SEE THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE.
AND IT MAKES SENSE IF YOU STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT: THERE IS JUST NO WAY TO SEE ALL OF THE STUFF HAPPENING ON FB IN YOUR FEED. PERSONALLY, I HAVE OVER 700 FRIENDS AND HAVE PROBABLY FANNED 1000S OF PAGES, THERE IS NO WAY I CAN SEE ALL OF THEIR POSTS IN MY FEED EVERYDAY. FORTUNATELY, FB DOES A PRETTY GOOD JOB RANKING CONTENT BASED ON THE PEOPLE AND PAGES I INTERACT WITH THE MOST. SO NATURALLY, GEORGE TAKEI AND TACO BELL ARE USUALLY AT THE TOP OF MY FEED.
ALL PROMOTED PAGE POSTS DOES IS OFFER AN EASY WAY FOR PAGE ADMINS TO PAY TO PROMOTE A POST USING FB ADS USING FUNCTIONALITY THAT ALREADY EXISTED. A LOT OF BUSINESSES USE POSTS TO PROMOTE SALES, CONCERTS, ETC AND ITS AN EASY WAY TO GET MORE DISTRIBUTION AND WE’VE GOTTEN A LOT OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM PAGES ABOUT THE PRODUCT.
While this addressed some of my technical ignorance, it left open the question of whether money was going to tip the balance in favor of big corporations when it came to Facebook “real estate.”
The question was ripe enough for even The Wall Street Journal to take interest. A reporter called and interviewed me about my thoughts on the matter.
Here is an excerpt from that interview:
WSJ: ARE YOU FRUSTRATED BY THIS NEWS?
MR. TAKEI: I AM STILL LEARNING HOW FACEBOOK WORKS AND TRYING HARD TO KEEP UP WITH ITS MANY CHANGES. AND I UNDERSTAND THAT FACEBOOK HAS TO MAKE MONEY. BUT WHAT IS FRUSTRATING IS THAT THIS OFFER COMES DURING A TIME WHEN I SAW MY GENERAL REACH (43 MILLION PER WEEK) INEXPLICABLY DROPPING BY 25% DOWN TO 34 MILLION, EVEN AS THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THE PAGE WAS RISING (TO NOW OVER 2.5 MILLION PER WEEK) AND THE NUMBER OF FANS WAS GROWING AT AROUND 7,000 PER DAY.
I ASKED MYSELF, IS FACEBOOK DOING SOMETHING TO SHRINK MY FAN REACH, AT THE SAME TIME IT IS TELLING ME TO PAY TO REACH MORE OF THEM? SO YES, IT WAS FRUSTRATING TO FEEL PRESSURE TO PAY TO REACH FANS.
WSJ: ANY PLANS TO PAY FACEBOOK SO MORE FANS CAN SEE YOUR POSTS?
MR. TAKEI: I DON’T CURRENTLY HAVE ANY SUCH PLANS. NEARLY ALL OF MY POSTS ARE JUST THINGS I FIND FUNNY, OR TOUCHING, OR THOUGHT-PROVOKING. THEY HAVE LITTLE TO DO WITH ME PERSONALLY, SO I CAN’T SEE MYSELF PAYING EXTRA FOR THOSE.
WSJ: WILL THIS HAVE ANY IMPACT ON YOUR FACEBOOK PRESENCE?
MR. TAKEI: FANS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BECOME EDUCATED ON HOW THE CONTENT THEY BELIEVE THEY HAVE SIGNED UP FOR IS ACTUALLY HANDLED, AND AT TIMES TAKE PROACTIVE MEASURES
Similar Books
