It’s hard to decide which part of Facebook drives people craziest: The super-secret settings that nobody tells them about, or the difficulty for businesses to really gain traction and see a return on their investment of time.
I vote for ROI.
But then, I almost drove myself crazy when my Facebook fan page disappeared early last year. I finally got it back when I appealed for help on Twitter. Dave Kerpen of Likeable Media found a glitch in my settings and told me that only people in the Philippines could see my page. He fixed it in a jiffy and I was back in business.
Part of the problem for many of us is that every time Facebook rolls out wholesale changes, it’s like entering kindergarten at Facebook Elementary School because we have to learn how to use it all over again.
Mari Smith, The Queen of Facebook, helped more than 14,000 people understand Facebook’s new timeline this week when she presented a free 90-minute webinar. It’s called “10 Essential Facebook Money-making Techie Tips” and if you’re at all confused about Facebook, I encourage you to watch the replay.
I’m promoting this as a compensated affiliate and I earn a commission if you buy her new Facebook product. I’m promoting it because way too many people, me included, find Facebook so frustrating.
Or, jump to the page where she’s selling the product.
What part of Facebook do you find most frustrating? The secret settings, difficulty seeing ROI, or something else?
HI Joan,
I think for me the most frustrating thing about FB;
I cannot get rid of my profile–ever!
I can deactivate it, but FB still has all my info tucked away somewhere, ready to activate it should I fail to be vigilant.
WTH!?
I should be allowed to delete my account–period!
That information should be scrubbed from their databases, never to be used again.
I wonder how many people have deactivated a dead relative’s account, only for it to be activated again?
Their refusal to totally delete an account strikes me as deceptive.
How can ANY membership accounts that FB claims to have be accurate if the accounts are eternal?
How many of those accounts are active and unique?
How can FB be selling advertising to X number of accounts with Y interest if half of the accounts they claim in X category are not being used?
I totally get why GM decided to not advertise w/FB anymore.
Their tracking systems showed that it wasn’t profitable for them.
I’ll admit to a chuckle as my feelings about this practice were vindicated and anticipate that more companies will be analyzing their ROI for FB.
I moderate a small special interest forum (for fans of Korean Dramas) and we are vigilant about ‘culling the herd’ every 6 months so that only active members are a part of our group.
Why do we do this?
So that our members/family is just that–a family.
It give a sense of connectedness which encourages people to share their thoughts and feel nurtured and understood.
Being a Korean Drama addict is very isolating for many people.
They are the only ones in their family or friends to watch ‘foreign, subtitled’ shows.
That we will even sacrifice sleep to watch them is puzzling for spouses and loved ones.
And the fact that these are, in essence, foreign soap operas makes it even stranger for most folks to get!
Our founder, Theresa Landis, started the group to provide a safe haven for KD addicts.
All of the moderators know of our mission statement and we do our best to make sure that the board is a warm, fuzzy place to hang out.
Spammers are deleted within minutes of their posts, not just their name, but their IP.
There are other KD forums, but their members number in the 1000’s, and they never get rid of a member once that person/spammer registers.
It can be intimidating for most folks to want to do anything other than read a few posts on these types of forums.
Most will visit once and not go back.
Our group may be small, but we are active and focused.
Our few, select advertisements are effective because of this.
Hey–we got bills to pay too!
How can FB claim to encourage people to feel comfortable sharing details of our lives to their friends, actively posting, yet constantly change the privacy settings so that our profiles can become public with no notice?
How does this encourage people to stay active, except to be checking in occasionally to make sure that the privacy settings haven’t changed?
Doesn’t it defeat the purpose of ‘sharing’ and participating?
How can advertising expenditures really be justified for FB, since the numbers can be skewed however FB wants?
I was a FB hold out for many years, and truly wish I had never joined.
Once I found out I can never fully delete my account, I was totally pissed.
But since I made the mistake of putting up a profile, I now have two of them.
One is my public profile, for employers and other superficial folks.
It contains PC information–nothing too controversial.
I visit it maybe every few weeks, post a few PC comments, make sure all the privacy settings are the same, make any needed adjustment to combat the latest FB attempts to short-circuit my privacy settings, and then sign off.
There’s nothing in it that would concern any potential employer.
Then there’s my other one–the real me, modified.
That one that is politically active and shares my thoughts in a non-PC fashion.
Personal information has been ‘edited’ for privacy/tracking sake.
That one is my most active and everyone who is my friend on that profile is aware of this.
I know of many people who do this–so just how accurate are FB’s claims, if one person is holding multiple accounts?
I am the same person on the end of both those accounts, so my interests will be the same.
FWIW, I actually check into the PC profile using another account on my computer, so even my internet browsing habits are totally neutral, I even click on links that make no sense, just to throw off the algorithms.
Yeah-I hate Big Brother and FB even more.
So I get a real kick out of tweaking their little tracking programs!!!
So how can they sell advertising to me that is accurate and effective?
BTW–please don’t quote FB policy about this, as Mark Z. can kiss my butt.
If he won’t provide me with the ability to delete an account, then don’t be surprised when I use his greediness against him.
Just because one of them has a false demographic profile shouldn’t concern a corporation who wants to profit by using me as an unpaid employee, providing content without being reimbursed.
After all, doesn’t he really benefit from this?
He now has TWO accounts to sell to his advertisers!
Welcome to the Frustrating World of Facebook.
Many people don’t remember that their profile is free and it lives on Facebook’s servers. Facebook has the right to change the Terms of Service and anything else about its site whenever it wishes. Privacy issues are a major concern, but you give up privacy when you decide to create a profile.