Should we be worried about Facebook’s latest announcement?
There was an announcement today (12th Jan) from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. He has said that Facebook as we know it is going to change. It seems he’s reacting to accusations of Facebook creating a negative experience for people; making them feel depressed, unhappy, and having a passive experience, rather than an active one.
He doesn’t want people to feel hounded by businesses or fake news. He doesn’t want click baiting to happen. He wants people to see more from their friends and family, to spend less time on Facebook, but to have a more enjoyable time when they are using it.
He basically wants it to be a positive experience.
This video by Mark Hull at Facebook, explains the changes pretty well:
News Feed FYI: Bringing People Closer Together
Posted by Facebook on Thursday, 11 January 2018
Not sure what to make of it?
Social media managers, marketers and business owners aren’t quite sure what to make of it yet. Facebook has been heading this way consistently over the last few years. As we’ve always said: you need to personalise your brand. You need to NOT be a faceless business. You need to be someone people WANT to see in their newsfeed, whether as an advert or an organic post.
Ranking is the key: Facebook already ranks content in favour of the businesses and people it decides you want to hear from. And now it’s just going to be weighing that more heavily towards friends and family – which is what Facebook is supposed to be for anyway.
To me, all this is just a confirmation of what we have always known: people interact with businesses that create good content, and who deliver what people are interested in.
Zuckerberg’s getting dramatic on us
Mark getting all dramatic on us is just a way of attempting to silence the bad press Facebook has been getting. And what he’s saying has been happening for ages anyway.
The BEST thing to come from all this, is that people should get a better experience from using Facebook. If people like using it, then it becomes a more effective platform, and the businesses that are doing it right will benefit.
So what do YOU need to do?
It would be nice to see people messaging others more; connecting with friends and family more, rather than scrolling scrolling scrolling…. We all know what stops the scroll… it’s people’s faces…
Personalise your brand, be someone people WANT to hear from.
And if you need a hand… well you know where we are 😊
Susie (& Chris & Kate!)
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