What does Facebook's bad PR mean for you?
Boy, are we glad we’re not on Facebook’s pr team. Every week it seems a new bomb drops about the social platform or its little sister Instagram - from fears to losing young users to a massive 6-hour blackout, to a whistleblower on 60 Minutes claiming the platform is misleading the public, to a major investigation into leaked documents by The Wall Street Journal - it’s tough to keep up. Even SNL got in on mocking tech-confused senators in a skit of the whistleblower congressional hearing. And every time we land on a piece to evaluate here at M.T. Deco, another story emerges, so let’s all take collective stock of what the eff is going on.
Anecdotally, for content creators and publishers, Facebook has become increasingly frustrating in the recent past. There was a time, back at CNN eight years ago, where it was THE social media platform of choice. On the CNN and New Day accounts, we would publish in roughly 30-minute increments almost 24 hours a day, and through its advanced analytics [they were the best!], we got to know our audience in deeper ways than ever before.
By evaluating our performance, we knew what types of stories resonated and when. We published top headlines first thing in the mornings, then clips from the broadcast and longer-form fare during the lunchtime break. We knew there was heavy mobile use on Tuesdays and tablet usage on Sundays. You get the idea. We thought strategically about target audiences on their commutes and what they’d want to consume, and we thought about the most effective ways to tell a story using a mix of photos, video, and text. We would go live, we ran polls, we experimented and it was the primary platform driving most website traffic.
In the past three years since the start of M.T. Deco, everything changed. Facebook dramatically altered its algorithm in an effort “to make its platforms a healthier place” by deprioritizing news content [among other professionally-produced content]. That change turned Facebook from THE place to publish -- where reach flourished and content would go viral -- into an afterthought. After Instagram that is. The possibilities to go viral became nearly impossible and the motivation to innovate went away. New features like Stories felt like poor copies from other platforms, and it slowly morphed into the platform it is now.
The one saving grace for Facebook today, as it relates to publishers, is that it still does effectively drive website traffic, even if that engagement isn’t reflected on the platform itself. Users will actively click through to site links, even if they don’t engage with the post on the platform, which is enough of a motivation to continue publishing there [re: prioritizing your owned platforms]. It is also still a daily habit for many people, so if working with contributors, for example - as M.T. Deco does - is part of your content strategy, some of the highest traffic-driving content continues to come from Facebook when contributors share pieces with their own networks.
That being said though, it’s important to be up to speed on the latest, big picture issues being debated on the platform. Here are the top four major points that we encourage you to spend time thinking about:
Accused of misleading the public. A whistleblower accused Facebook of prioritizing profits over clamping down on hate speech and misinformation.
Watch: Whistleblower Frances Haugen says in her time with Facebook she saw, "conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook." Scott Pelley reports for 60 Minutes.
Refute: Spot on or unfair? Facebook employees split on Frances’ critique. Inside the notoriously insular company, employees’ perceptions of her appear to be divided. -The Guardian
Instagram is unhealthy for teens. Facebook has been conducting studies into how its photo-sharing app affects its millions of young users. Repeatedly, the company’s researchers found that Instagram is harmful to a sizable percentage of them, most notably teenage girls.
Read: Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show. Its own in-depth research shows a significant teen mental-health issue that Facebook plays down in public. - The Wall Street Journal
Refute: Facebook To Limit Politics, Boost Friends, Says Spokesman On ‘Meet The Press’ -Deadline
Chasing audiences. There’s an ongoing concern within Facebook and Instagram that the platforms are losing a foothold on younger, GenZ, audiences to other platforms, like TikTok.
Instagram Struggles With Fears of Losing Its ‘Pipeline’: Young Users. The app, hailed as Facebook’s growth engine, has privately wrestled with retaining and engaging teenagers, according to internal documents. -The New York Times
Facebook Is Weaker Than We Knew. A trove of leaked documents, published by The Wall Street Journal, hints at a company whose best days are behind it. -The New York Times
Government regulation. The big question right now is can and should Facebook be regulated by the government? Its addictive qualities have been compared to Big Tobacco and there seems to be a consensus that oversight is needed, but a lack of clarity on exactly what that should look like.
Read + Listen: The Big Idea: Both parties want to regulate Facebook. But how? -The New York Times
Read: Washington Wants to Regulate Facebook's Algorithm. That Might Be Unconstitutional - Time Magazine
Refute: “Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said on Sunday that lawmakers’ comparisons between the social media giant and Big Tobacco are “extremely misleading.” -The Hill
And as you take it all in while also processing for your own strategy, we’re going to recommend the same steps we are taking in the short term:
Stay the course. There’s way too much happening and unfolding in real-time that it’s best to stick with your current content publishing for the time being. Now is not the time for drastic moves, it’s a time to continue listening and following the story.
Look for opportunity. While right now is not a time to take radical action, it is good to keep a close eye on your analytics and be ready to lean in if you see a trend or something take off. Other publishers, aka brands, organizations, businesses, influencers, are guaranteed to be changing [re panicking over Facebook’s bad pr], which can alter the algorithm and open up white space opportunities.
Think holistically. When Facebook and Instagram went down recently, we had to hold ourselves back from saying “I told you so.” This was a perfect example of why you can’t put all your eggs in one basket and you must apply your digital strategy to a variety of platforms while prioritizing your owned platforms - like your website, blog, and newsletter - first and foremost over social.
As we continue to watch what unfolds with Facebook, this is a good reminder that this is the nature of digital platforms. And we all have a front-row seat to watch it in action. None of them are stagnant, though the ones with the most reliable stability are your owned ones, and part of your overall strategy needs flexibility for change. This means that from a single stream workflow, you should be able to create content for a variety of platforms, current and emergent as they ebb and flow.
In the coming weeks and months, we might recommend fully revising your current approach to Facebook and Instagram, or maybe even leaving the platforms altogether [don’t panic, we’re not there yet!], but it’s impossible to tell where things are headed at this moment. Remain steady, get informed, and stick with us as we keep the conversation on what’s best for you going.