Sunday, April 6, 2014

There's been quite a bit of hubbub lately about Facebook limiting how many people can see posts from a 'Fanpage', and understandably so. Speaking for myself, I have 1'344 Fans on mine, and when I post something, only a 'chosen few' are able to see it.
I cannot confirm or deny that these are the 'Chosen Few' I'm talking about.
 
 
Some would argue that it's simply a matter of Facebook trying to make a quick buck off of Indie Authors, Musicians, Artists, what have you. If you want more people to see your posts, you're gonna have to pay for it. The problem is that many of these 'Artists', myself included, are simply not in a position to throw extra money at promotions. We do well enough to put food on the table and a roof over our heads, some more than others. Most of us started utilizing Facebook as a means to promote our works, and for a while it was wonderful. FREE Promotion, Yay!

With all the money I'm saving on promoting, I can afford to eat TWICE this week!
 
 
Now, as expected when something is free, people flocked to it like, well...
 
You get the picture.
 
Now, ALSO as expected, this creates a problem. That problem being 'OVERSATURATION'.
 
At this point in the Blog, I'm going to have to ask everyone to stay calm and not reach for the torches and pitchforks. (What's with you people and torches and pitchforks anyway?) I'm about to say something that may shock and/or enrage you.
Seriously, hear me out. You guys are ridiculous.
 
 
Facebook has a very good reason for limiting how many people see our posts.
 

Goddamn it, wouldn't making a salad instead be a better usage of your time?
 
It goes back to the somewhat necessary 'Caps Locked' OVERSATURATION I mentioned earlier.
Facebook users are allowed to 'Like' somewhere in the neighborhood of 5'000 pages, but most users 'Like' on average probably at LEAST 100. Just for shits and giggles we consider what would happen if Facebook showed you EVERY SINGLE post from every page you 'Like'? 
That's right, your Newsfeed is gonna be bombarded by every one of those pages, every time they post something. Even on one's 'personal' page, Facebook limits the amount of people that see each other's posts.
So, ask yourself...how many people are on your Friend's List? How many pages do you 'Like'? Can you look me straight in the eye and say that you seriously want to see EVERY SINGLE POST from EVERY SINGLE ONE of them?
Statistically speaking, even for a 'Casual' Facebook user, there simply isn't enough hours in the day to keep up with the deluge of Notifications you're gonna get hit with.
Not even THIS guy has the time.
 
So, all in all, the limitations SUCK, but they're there for a reason. Charging us saps to allow more views is the only conceivable way to wrangle the beast. Again, this SUCKS, but it's a necessary evil, because while EVERYONE wants all of their posts seen, NOBODY wants to see each and every one of everybody elses.
Now that I'm done playing 'Devil's Advocate', here's a cool picture of Al Pacino:
"Whattaya mean only 24 people saw my post??? I'm Al Frickin' Pacino!!!"