Thursday 18th February, 2021.
The day Facebook kicked a massive own-goal… and the day we finally had enough.
You probably heard about Facebook’s Titanic-sized dummy spit, no matter where you were in the world.
A quick recap.
The Australian Government legislated to make online media pay for news feeds. Google made a smart business decision and rolled over. They negotiated deals with the major news outlets.
Facebook however, thought they’d teach we cocky Aussies a lesson… one we’d never forget.
They decided to wipe every account they deemed to be a news page.
But instead of just targeting the news broadcasters, Facebook wiped EVERY business Page that had shared a post from what they defined as a news site.
It didn’t matter WHEN the post was shared. Whether it was 5 minutes or 5 years ago, the entire Page was wiped.
Facebook used a giant sledgehammer to crush a tiny nut.
In the past, we’ve occasionally shared content from ABC news articles… something on the 2019/2020 bushfires or a story about the Tibooburra Two Storey Hotel burning down, for example.
So yep, our Outback travel Facebook Page was wiped too! Not exactly a news page… but gone, nevertheless.
Countless small businesses, community groups, emergency organisations and even the Bureau of Meteorology suffered the same fate.
In the ultimate irony, satire news groups like The Betoota Advocate and The Shovel were also wiped. Facebook were out of control.
Enough was enough.
A Change In Direction
Facebook can be incredibly difficult to deal with, when you’re a small business.
We’ve spent the last 4 years constantly adapting and shifting to accommodate their never-ending “updates” and changes.
These are things a user wouldn’t even notice. Yet for a small business like ours, they’re a constant headache, an incredible time suck, another expense we can’t afford.
Facebook has a single-minded (some might say manic) focus on relentlessly squeezing every business for advertising dollars. They never stop. And to be honest, it gets tiring after a while.
So when Facebook wiped our Page blank, that was the push we needed.
We’ll continue to post on Facebook, for a while at least. However Facebook are right at the very bottom of our priority list now.
We simply don’t trust them. Instead, we’re changing direction… concentrating more on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.
Apologies if our decision causes any inconvenience.
Any questions or comments? Go to the Comments below or join us on Pinterest, Facebook or YouTube.
Any errors or omissions are mine alone.