Facebook No Longer Likes 'Likes'

There are more than 70 million small business pages on Facebook as well as billions of users. For many freelancers, publishers, bloggers, celebrities, small business owners and corporations, Facebook is used to not only engage a community but also to show off to others — prospective customers or clients — just how big their community is. To do that you need likes and for that reason it’s not uncommon to find many on the social media site begging for others to like their pages.

Well, Facebook wants that to end. Why? Their audience tells them that for many, it’s just too much noise, reports The Washington Post.

“People have told us that they dislike spammy posts on Facebook that goad them into interacting with likes, shares, comments, and other actions,” two company representatives said in a company announcement. Starting this week, the company said it would begin “demoting individual posts from people and Pages that use engagement bait.”

If you’re reliant on aggressively building your Facebook audience to expand your business, be forewarned. During the next few weeks, Pages that “systematically and repeatedly use engagement bait to gain reach in the News Feed” will be subject to demotion.

What’s considered to be “engagement bait?” Requests for users to “vote on your goals” or “follow this page if you’re an Aries” or “share with your friends for a chance to win a new car!” are all considered to be “spammy” things that people and companies do to reel in potential followers.

Facebook wants to encourage users to follow those pages where there’s engagement, authenticity, better web experiences and avoid those that are sending out spammy, sensational or misleading information.