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Showing posts from June, 2012

Facebook social ads - what's the problem, and why do you "like" things?

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[Short link to this article if you need it:    http://goo.gl/rJYd6  or retweet me ] Recently (actually in the last 24 hours it seems) quite a few people have suddenly started spotting Facebook's "Social Ad" feature and are recommending people turn it off. If you haven't seen it, facebook's adverts at the right of the screen can show, alongside the advert, which of your friends have "liked" a particular product. The issue is that it's seen as an endorsement, but let's take a rational step back for a second and look at why do people "like" facebook pages in the first place? I think it's down to one of these reasons: To follow what the page/brand has to say To share a witty phrase or saying (seems to be dieing out now) with their friends To express approval of something/someone and tell their friends about it. In cases 2 and 3 the purpose is very much "to tell others" and it appears on your friends' stream whe