Category: Social Media

Between Facebook and Youtube, I’m getting the message to retire. I’m just not willing to pander to either of them and this is my problem I admit. I have other options in life and it’s time to move on them.

Facebook Just ‘Improved’ Again

Seriously, what a difference Facebook just made in how I want to use it.

Now, instead of simply clicking a link to take me to my garden-author page or the page for this blog, I have to change to that page identity. Instead of being Doug Green as an administrator of that page, I have to actually change personas to become Doug Greens Gardening. Or Douglas Green author.

This means I can wander Facebook making comments as Doug Greens Garden (a business account).

My business page can ask to be your friend on Facebook.

Frankly, I don’t want business accounts pretending to be individuals on my Facebook account nor do I want my author “business” to do it either.

A business I deal with has no need to see my personal posts other than to improve their advertising efforts (which is likely why Facebook made this change).

And the stats have changed.

And in order to see the stats of each post (did this kind of post help more or less gardeners?) I now have to click on every post (it used to show automatically under the post (readers couldn’t see it but I could.)

It’s just more of a hassle than it’s worth this morning.

Youtube Just Kicked Me Off Their Advertising Platform

Well, I get this one. I haven’t made a new video is quite some time and have been focussed on other creative activities. Apparently I no longer have enough people watching my videos to qualify me to receive a portion of the ads.

Any of these platforms rewards the more recent upload as more valuable than older content.

Given I used to make less than $15/month, it’s neither a problem nor an incentive to make more.

To be clear, Youtube will continue to advertise on my videos, I simply won’t receive a cut of those ads.

And who knows at this time whether I’ll even make more.

Moving Forward

I have a career change plan that’s becoming clearer in my head (you didn’t think I’d retire to sit and watch tv did you?) and I’ll post here when that begins to take shape in the real world.

Thanks for reading this far. It’s an interesting online world out there as the big guys fight for traffic and attention.

You can subscribe for updates here

Dear Facebook

I’ve done my best, I truly have. 

• You wanted good notes–I gave them.
• You wanted memes–I created them. 
• Pictures
• Videos
• Links
• Interaction

I did them all. I followed your dictated trends. And I grew a garden author page to 5000 likes and 5000 followers. (Yes, 10,000 gardeners!) But you’ve claimed those readers as your own, so you can advertise to them.

You’ve made it clear you’ll only share my posts with 300-ish of those folks. (Yes, 300 out of 10,000.)

• If I want to give more readers free garden information, I have to pay you.
• If I tell them how to grow a plant, I have to pay you.
• I have to pay you to give away free advice. Seriously?

There’s no win-win here so it’s goodbye Facebook

It’s a win-lose.

Yes, I know a lot of readers think this is just fine because they prefer Facebook over other options. But here’s the thing, moving forward I’ll treat Facebook as it wants to be treated – as an advertising function.

Note it’s better for me to advertise on Amazon where my books are sold (one click to a sale) then on Facebook (where it’s two clicks to a sale.) 

You may ask, “How can I go against the advice of thousands of marketers and say Goodbye Facebook?”

1) I hate being exploited.
2) Amazon ads work better to help me sell books.
3) Facebook is not one of my top-3 traffic sources.
4) I’m making a big project–my best and last garden in the real world – so I’m taking the time to do that.
5) I no longer GAF. I’m retired so I can write what I want, share what I want, and follow whatever online direction I want. I’m doing that.
6) Readers can make the same decision. They can subscribe to my garden updates or not – their choice.

Postscripts

WordPress has a feature to post my gardening notes on DougGreensGarden to Facebook. I’ve deleted it.

If readers prefer Facebook to my newsletter, website and they don’t purchase my e-books–they are not really a “true” fan of mine. (They are a Facebook fan.)

It is absolutely wonderful how liberating this is.

Yeah, being retired means I have time. Time to create an awesome garden and I can share it in any way I want regardless of how others behave or what Facebook wants.

Stay tuned: I believe my inner curmudgeon has finally slipped the “surly bonds of earth” and both my gardener and writer self are delighted.

Doug

p.s.  And finally, if you want updates to this blog, click here

The recommendation for writers and other creative types (and all other business operations as well btw) is to create a “page” on Facebook and develop an audience.

But once you develop an audience, Facebook wants you to pay them for that audience to read your posts. 

If you have 5000 people like your page, they only show your posts to 300- 500 people. The message is clear. Want more of the people who’ve liked your page to see it = pay Facebook.

Why not just skip the audience/page building phase – save a lot of time and effort – and go right to the pay-Facebook phase?

Just asking.

p.s. Facebook is an advertising medium – not a social medium. Rethink your position on this

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