I’m going to start this off with a disclaimer, and maybe a slight desperation move so if any Facebook bigwigs are reading this, they *might* rethink canceling my page and shunning me for life.

Facebook, I love you.  Like, big puffy heart love you.

I’ve loved you since 2006.  When I opened my business in 2010, I loved you even more, since you gave me yet another outlet for my creativity and a fantastic, *free* advertising source,a way to get free info about how to buy twitter followers.  Yes, you’ve assisted in making me money, and I completely appreciate it.

However! (dot dot dot)

Lets talk about promoted posts.  I get that you need to make money.  You’re a business, and now a publicly traded business.  You need to look good to your shareholders, I get it.  As a whole, small business owners were angry when you started letting people “like” posts but not “like” our pages.  That was awhile ago, and I think we’ve found a way to cope with it.  We now understand the importance of posting at certain times and posting certain items to increase interaction with our fans.  But that wasn’t enough.  You then dramatically decreased the amount of people even seeing our posts through your EdgeRank system, which I still don’t fully understand.  THEN, you started wanting us to “promote” these posts.  Thats all fine and dandy…REALLY.  I mean, you ARE giving free advertising through our pages.  If we were to advertise elsewhere, we’d be paying a good chunk of money to do so, with uncertain results.  The thing I really have a problem with is the fact that “promoting” pages seems more and more like a huge scam.

For example, the other day I promoted an image which I was particularly proud of, in hopes that the friends and loved ones of the subjects in my image would see this post, like it, or like my page…etc etc.  Did I get likes?  YES!  About 10 so far.  All but one from a foreign country.  Excuse me?

When I paid money to promote this post, I was given two options.  To either sponsor it for fans of my page, or for friends of my fans.  NOT randompeoplefromrandomplaces.  I’ve checked out these individuals pages.  We have absolutely nothing in common.  In fact, a lot of these new “fans” are highly suspicious and flood their own timeline’s with questionable photos (children, blood, war).  Why are they finding my page?  I am not Walmart, or Best Buy, or another multi-million fan company.  I am a small business in the middle of the United States.  800-some fans.  Why am I paying money to promote my images to people who I don’t know, will never meet, and who will never hire me for a job???  That isn’t what I signed up for.  The only rational answer is you.  You’ve promoted this page to these people (if they are actually people).

Yes, I’m thankful that you are getting my name out there.  Networking can’t hurt, but at least be honest to us about it.  I’m not against promoting our posts, but please, PLEASE be fair about it.  I *could* change my page so only those living in the United States could see it.  However, I do actually have legitimate fans in far away places.

Facebook, why can’t you come up with a system that is fair to us small business folks, who are just trying to make a mark in our small area, while still making money and impressing the stock market?  Why isn’t it enough to have us pay for posts to people who might actually interact with our businesses someday?  I’m sure theres a compromise, and I plead with you to be more business friendly and legitimate when you make changes to Facebook.

Am I one of those who is going to threaten never to set “screen” on Facebook?  Definitely not, but you also are not going to be making money from me while continuing these shady practices.

One more thing!

I believe I speak for thousands when I ask for a little direction from YOU when making these changes to our timelines and to our pages.  Not only would it look VERY good for your company, but you would be gaining the trust of MANY comment pirater un compte facebook users and page owners.  Every time there is a change and we see our page likes decrease, or “seen by” numbers fluctuate, we are flooded with blog posts and articles about why you did it and what the changes are, but these are commonly confusing and misunderstood.  A simple blog post of your own, giving us valuable insight into the changes and what we can do as business owners to capitalize on these changes would probably be one of the most trustworthy things you could do for us.  I know you have the manpower, the money, and the brains.  Throw us a rope, and you won’t be disappointed.

Frustrated in Kansas,

Melissa