Quick Favor To Ask Of Go Retro's Facebook Followers

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Facebook drives me crazy, and not just because this time of year my newsfeed is clogged with content pertaining to politics and the election. I've also noticed that in recent months, engagement has truly tanked on the Go Retro Facebook page -- despite the fact that the number of followers has nearly doubled compared to a year ago.

I know it's because Facebook changes its algorithms and newsfeed preferences constantly, and this has affected the page of a company I freelance for as well. They want you to throw money at their advertising program and "boost" your individual posts so that they'll be seen by more of your fans. Well, I don't think that's right. As one of the characters on Poldark says, "T'int right, t'int fair, t'int fit, t'int proper!" But what can you do.

To give you some perspective, the other day someone liked a photo of John Travolta I posted over two years ago. The photo attracted 24 likes, four comments, and two shares. By contrast in the past few weeks I've been lucky if I get four or fives likes and one comment. And believe me, I'm not looking for accolades, but I think something smells rotten in Facebookland.

So for those of you that follow the Go Retro Facebook page, may I ask a favor? Could you please like or comment on something on it to let me (and Facebook) know that you're still following it? I swear I don't post that often on the page for it to become a nuisance in people's feeds -- two or three times a day at the most. I post a lot of photos, trivia, videos, and other fun stuff that isn't on this page. You'll forever be known as a good doobie in my book if you do!

12 comments:

  1. I'm sorry, but social media frightens me! I would no sooner engage in Facebook and Twitter than I would open up the Necronomicon and waken Cthulhu and summon the evil dead from their graves. I avoid horror whenever possible.
    A simple country lad am I, trapped in a world I never made.
    M.P.

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  2. I have had some of the same issues on a FB page I manage with a friend. It seems that more often than not, we get the dreaded red arrow pointing down on post engagement, and the corresponding reminders that (for just $5!) we can boost a post. I personally think it's a scam for them to make money. I liked and commented on a few of the posts on the Go Retro FB page for you.

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    1. Thanks, Jeff -- I know you've been pretty consistent with liking and commenting on the page. I was curious about people that may have liked it a while ago that are no longer seeing any updates in their news feed. I recently went through my own list of pages I've liked on Facebook throughout the years and I was amazed at how many I am no longer seeing updates from in my feed. Quite a few were pages that I DID interact with, so I really don't like how Facebook has handled this in recent years. And not long ago, I saw an article saying that Instagram (which Facebook purchased) has moved from putting updates in their proper order to showing new posts based on popularity or people's preferences. In my opinion, everyone's content should show up period in the order it was posted...but today it's all about the almighty dollar and how much these companies can make.

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  3. I think switch from being able to "Use Facebook As Page" has also contributed to it. It took me weeks to find the small button that allows me to look at the pages I follow as my alter ego and I haven't been able to figure out how to order them by "most recent." It feels haphazard and it ends up frustrating me so I give up way too quickly.

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    1. It took me a while to find that feature, too! I think mine are already in order by most recent, but I don't know where the setting is for that or I'd make you privy to it. Thanks for liking a photo on the FB page for GR today!

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  4. Hey Pam, I'm sorry too--it's the same with me, I like your page (figuratively -and- literally) but it never shows up in my newsfeed either; I always have to hunt it out, so to speak. I'll try to remember to visit it more :)

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    1. Thanks for doing that, Doug -- actually, FB tells me which of my friends have liked the page and you're not on that list. Maybe you unfollowed it a while ago and forgot? No biggie, but maybe just double check to make sure it shows as "liked" when you're visiting it. I guess that would explain why you never see updates!

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  5. I think I just got so used to seeing you on Twitter I forgot about your Facebook page!

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  6. I am now stalking you on Facebook, too. ;-)

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  7. I wonder if the conversation in the photo would be considered harassment, today. We should caption it...
    "After you're through with your little assignment, come by my desk and I'll show you how to load Wordstar..."

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