Why people hate Facebook

Don’t get me wrong!

I use it and I need it!

But there are many reasons why many people share the sentiment of “I hate Facebook” from a personal and business perspective.

Apart from the fact that “Privacy issue” is a term that resonates with Facebook’s image, there are many other reasons it is a highly disliked platform.

These are some of the reasons why so many people hate Facebook!

Why I hate Facebook?

Facebook started out as one of the most successful social media platforms in the world with the goal to connect people and share information. It was meant to catch up with loved ones, share images of each other, build our relationships with distant acquaintances, and later even boost our businesses or portfolios.

But somewhere along the line, this amazing social media channel has turned into a political platform, a tabloid for controversy, and dumbed-down, non-sensical content.

Is Facebook good for Businesses to grow?

Facebook likes are the cornerstone of building an audience of avid followers. Or that is at least what Facebook wants people to believe.

I would like to explain why Facebook is no longer worth the money if you’re running a business or want to be an entrepreneur to grow your brand and company.

Facebook Pages hardly grow without money

Now before anyone might disagree, I like to compare Facebook or other social media networks with search engines like Google.

Considering the fact that you can grow and share content about your brand, your content, or yourself for free is great.

But!

The purpose of every business is growth and data extraction. And this is where Facebook’s algorithm comes to play. The growth of a Facebook page can be done in only two ways.

Build engaging content

The algorithm of Facebook is built upon engagement. Get likes, comments, and shares to boost the visibility of your post. Sounds simple enough?

But building engaging content is perhaps the most challenging part to get people’s attention on Facebook with so much going on. Within the first 30 minutes to 1 hour, if your content does not receive any likes, shares, or comments, it becomes less likely to get much recognition. Most posts fade into obscurity as a ton of other advertizers, shares, and holiday images of your friends wash away your posts.

The lifespan of a Facebook post is also very short. Even posts that get some engagement fade into obscurity within a few days and unlikely to be seen again unless someone does something to it. 

There are many tools and marketing strategies to overcome this obscurity. But they are nowhere as efficient as SEO or other social media platforms like LinkedIn or Pinterest, where the focus on quality and informative content is crucial.

Pay to Grow on Facebook 

If engagement doesn’t work, you can always open your wallet. Facebook is a giant business after all that consumes money like a fat kid on the block.

It is in their interest and that is completely understandable. But unlike with search engines where you can use SEO or content marketing strategies to grow, different rules apply to Facebook. And that is what I don’t like.

The most common way to grow a Facebook page is by building a PPC (Pay-per-Click) campaign and disposing of huge sums of money. But even then, when you get thousands of followers, once you stop payment, your visibility drops almost immediately.

And it will never go back up again unless your campaign has targeted the perfect audience that wants to hear and know every word you say. (This is unlikely, because of the massive amount of stories and ads you get on your feed.)

Interaction with your content will diminish almost certainly and will never be able to compete with someone who is paying for their content to appear for their chosen demographic.

The Problem with the Facebook Era

“If you don’t have thousands of followers, your page does not generate any traffic and you are invisible to the world.” 

I heard someone say this when sharing my website with them. Even though it generated thousands of visitors every week, they were quick to judge that by looking at my website’s Facebook page.

And I don’t blame them.

This is another reason why I hate Facebook. The mentality it had built in the minds of some people is truly surprising.

In my personal opinion, in the digital marketing world, social media falls behind search engines in terms of generating traffic or leads, yet only those who are in this niche understand how organic traffic works.

They only see the numbers behind a Facebook page.

The lifespan of an average post on Facebook ranges between a few hours to a few days, depending on the engagement.

But things fall into obscurity pretty fast. Whereas traffic via search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing can generate passive visits to your content for months even years to come.

How Facebook steals content

There is another issue with Facebook.

Videos that go uncredited to their creators are a big problem. You can see a lot of written and/or video content getting shared every day on Facebook. But they don’t always receive the credit they deserve. 

Imagine it like this.

If an influencer on Facebook with thousands of followers from Brazil or Canada were to take a Youtube video (that you’ve made) from you and share it on Facebook, it would go unchecked. Facebook usually places ads on these videos and takes the profit for itself.

Where is the problem here?

Well, imagine you are a content creator on Youtube or Vimeo. You make videos that require hundreds of hours of work and effort. And all of a sudden, a Facebook influencer takes your video and shares it without giving credit where credit is due.

Between those videos, Facebook can place automated ads and take most of the ad revenue, while you worked hard on your Youtube video and miss out on a ton of Adsense revenue. There is also another issue with data security, but I suppose everyone is familiar with that.

Facebook isn’t free. We pay with our data – our personal information.

Conclusion on the “why I hate Facebook” Dilemma

Let’s be clear on one thing.

Facebook is a great platform for those who wish to stay in touch with friends and family, message them. Or get a daily reminder of whose birthday it is today.

It’s also great to give your business or brand a place to share your content and grow. I do it and 4 million other businesses or public figures do it.

But the small company that grew into a mega-corporation has done quite some harm to the public. And company greed is tangible when witnessing the massive impact Facebook has on society, politics, and mentality.

I’m not saying, deactivate your Facebook account. No one is going to do that and it’s not the right approach. Facebook will remember your data and will welcome you back with open arms.

But for the time being, let’s not rely too heavily on this social networking platform from a social and business perspective. Like all things in life, it should be enjoyed in moderation.