Although Facebook continues to be the giant of social media since its inception in 2004, effortlessly suplexing cheap imitations into submission, many people are now seeking to quit Facebook in favour for alternative forms of online communities. Dumping or deleting Facebook entirely is a big decision for many businesses but taking a step back can sometimes help you see a lot clearer and set better goals.
The marketing strategy for Facebook is very clear: Give me all of your attention and money. Thank you please!
Back in the early years, Facebook seemed like an excellent way to communicate with your friends and family. Whether that was posting a status update of what you had for breakfast, sharing photographs from your latest holiday or notifying everyone that you were now ‘in a relationship.’ Facebook was the ultimate bragging machine which allowed individuals to adopt a persona and live their best (fake) life measured and validated by the amount of ‘likes’ one would get.
Yet despite the transparent nature of being somewhat emotionally manipulated by Facebook, we still invest our time and energy. Call it FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) or good old fashioned laziness. We have continued being loyal subjects to our dark lord Facebook despite our completely legitimate reservations of the unhealthy role it plays in our lives.
In the last couple of years the popularity of the social media platform has declined as critical questioning of the website has increased. #CambridgeAnalytica This slump could be a result of the corrupt business of abusing personal data or perhaps it’s because those of us who expressed ridiculous, unfiltered opinions in 2008 have now grown out of the novelty of oversharing and caring about 87 baby photographs of that girl you went to school with 20 years ago!
The evolution of Facebook has moved past simply filling the online space where its predecessors like MySpace and Bebo once occupied. The complete domination of the social network now hosts 2.5 billion people worldwide with a net worth of approx. $74 billon.
The powerful yet handy way to update your pals on your recent escapades in the adulting world has expanded into a digital newspaper, a political broadcaster, a shopping channel, an ad agency and for me, an integral tool in building the Fresh Retro Juice brand.
But now, I am intrigued and motivated into what type of internet wizardry lies outside the chokehold of Facebook and its clever and terrifying data harvesting rules. I want to be involved in an enterprise outside of the ‘norm’ that could help me push Fresh Retro Juice into something new and exciting. This is when I stumbled across Mighty Networks and the idea to create a niche specific social network platform for the nostalgia loving community, I have championed for years.
The restrictions Facebook continues to impose on what content they allow your followers on a fan page see, has reached new levels of infuriation and in my opinion is a huge failing on their part. The algorithm has squeezed the last dregs of joy out of building an online community. Creating a large hub of social interaction with strangers takes hard work and effort. Facts. You have to continuously create engaging content that keeps your loyal audience entertained as well enticing new people. And so, it’s extremely disheartening that your efforts are laughed at due to the gatekeepers at Facebook.
I currently have 20k+ followers on the Fresh Retro Juice Facebook page. But depending on the type of content I post for example, photo, video, blog post, poll etc, and on a which particular time or day, I can maybe coax a few hundred organic views out of the potential of thousands who follow my page.
Of course, this occurs as Facebook want people to pay for the privilege of a sharing content to a community you built. However, for page admins like myself who are passionate about their niche, it makes me want to throw inanimate objects at a wall!
So, with much exasperation and expletives, I decided to stop fully relying on the bot gods of Facebook to control my capabilities with brand outreach. All I wanted was to create an online community where 100% of my members can see 100% of my content. Easy!
Now don’t get me wrong, Facebook is not dead. Yet! It is far too crucial for not just content creators, marketers or businesses but also the average person who has Facebook fully integrated into their lives. I do however think that relying fully on one single social media ecosystem, just doesn’t make sense.
There are alternatives to Facebook pages and groups that align a lot better with the ethical nature of business of which I am fan. It might take an adjustment, a shed load more effort to cultivate a fan base and having to jump into the unknown, but I believe that it may just be worth it!