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Thread: Why Buying FB likes makes your company look Stupid

  1. #1
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod
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    Why Buying FB likes makes your company look Stupid

    So, I just posted about this on my FB and I'm going to post about it here.

    I was reading some articles in an effort to put a tutorial together on how to expand your FB reach and get more fans. I came across a thing that's happening and the more I learned about it I was just shocked. You can buy fb likes. I don't mean buy advertising so you get more likes through fb or whatever. I mean, pay a fee, and bot accounts (not real people) will "like" your page to make it look like you have more fans. There was an issue a while back on the art website I use called DeviantART where people were buying fake pageviews to try and make themselves look more popular than they were. This is the same thing. There's no real benefit to buying FB likes. It's not a real person. It's not a person who is going to "like" your stuff, share your page, help you make connections, or validate anything you do, or get you paying work. it's just going to make it look like you have more fans and that will not make your page go more viral, make your stuff get seen more, or increase anything really.

    I was talking about this with friends on my FB and we realized how some bands were doing it in a vain attempt to increase their fame. 10,000 likes, but only like 5 people only ever commented or likes their stuff! lol and they got those likes over night with no media exposure or anything.

    Imagine my surprise when people pointed out a few mermaid pages doing the same thing. Page created, next day, fans are in the 4 digits before any content has even been posted.

    It's not fooling anyone, and from my research when people start scouting you for actual stuff, they pay attention to this and you shoot yourself in the fin. It's like lying on your resume. You think you're beefing yourself up but you can't back it up and it'll screw you in the end.

    Here's a few links that I think are helpful on the subject, lest you feel tempted to follow the trend:

    http://www.thesaleslion.com/buying-f...ompany-stupid/

    This post won’t be long folks, but it needs to be said…unfortunately.
    I was researching a bit of information for my swimming pool company tonight when I stumbled across a high-end builder in the industry that was making a big deal on their home page about the fact their company Facebook page had over 2500 “likes.”
    Knowing this elevated number to be extremely rare for any swimming pool business, I then looked at the photos of their “fans” that were on display and within seconds it became obvious to me that they had sold their soul to the social media devil and paid a few bucks on some place like Fiverr (a site I actually like a lot) to get a couple of thousand “fake likes.”
    Now you might be asking how I know their fans were fake. Well, I’m not going to go into details, but let me just say I know what swimming pool consumers look like…and they didn’t look like the folks on their page.
    And after seeing what this company had done to “appear” socially awesome, what was respect I had for their business quickly turned to disappointment.
    Here is the deal my friends—Online consumers aren’t dumb. In fact, they’re getting smarter every day. Furthermore, they can spot a social media rat when they see one.
    Be it fake testimonials.
    Fake videos.
    Fake reviews.
    Fake anything.
    This is exactly why it doesn’t pay to try and attempt to bloat your numbers for the purpose of appearing more “popular” than you really are.
    So please, don’t go there. You’re too good for it anyway.
    Stick to transparency. Stick to truly listening to consumers and then earnestly answering their questions.
    If you do this, although the “numbers” may grow slowly (many of which don’t mean squat anyway), at least they’ll be real and won’t make your brand look desperate for attention.

    A few more:

    https://www.jonloomer.com/2012/07/09...acebook-likes/

    http://www.warriorforum.com/social-m...get-likes.html

    http://www.techinasia.com/5-reasons-...facebook-fans/


    In conclusion,
    YOU CAN DO BETTER!!! Don't fall victim to the need to have a bunch of likes to validate what you do! Be happy to have followers who are actually supportive of you!

  2. #2
    That's sad. Thanks for sharing Raina, its good to keep these things in mind and in check.

  3. #3
    That's really bad!Where we are going to end in this way? Thank you Raina for this...actually I couldn't even imagine that someone could really do a thing like this O.o
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  4. #4
    Senior Member Pod of The South MermaidHyli's Avatar
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    I was reading up on the fb sponsered ads like the ones you pay fb to make for you to get more attention. And while it does promote you to people, you also get tons of bots! Its sad that fb cant do anything to stop them I just know when a.bot likes my page I ban it so it cant spread to any others. Needless to say paying for ads or paying for bots doesnt sound like a good idea. :/ guess we gotta do this the old fashioned way. But that just means you have to get out more, go to different spots, talk about your mermaid profession to everyone. That's what I've been doing and I finally got 1000 hits. Also even if you dont seem to be getting any more likes it just cuts off dont give in to the bot temptations!

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  5. #5
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    Yeah pay to promote on Fb is a waste too because they don't promote to your fans lol.

  6. #6
    thanks for posting How dumb is this 'get more likes-thing' anyway? So stupid

  7. #7
    I was gonna type up a thread on this but you beat me to it :P I'll just go ahead and put in what I had so far in reply if you don't mind!

    Here's what I had:

    Buying fake fans/likes. Yeah, you can do it. But should you? I stumbled across this while looking for ways to increase my fans on Facebook. I had been interacting with other pages- liking and commenting a lot on others content- for the joy of interacting with the community. But then I wondered if it actually helped my page's traffic as well. After all, Facebook has changed the way Pages work a ton, and it frequently changes. I also wondered, what time of day is best to post at so more people will see my photos, ect? These are good questions to ask for any small business. Most times when I run across something useful or a great tip, it's a small tip buried in a article of things that I already know, so I try and give things a read or watch when I have time. In my google searches I ran across a video on YouTube, promising 10,000 likes/fans in a week, and decided to give it a watch.

    Turns out, it was about buying fake likes. Where to find them, how much they cost. I was actually really excited at the time! I thought it was like Facebook's advertising- which gets you 100% real people interested in your page. So I did some research. Turns out, they're all fake. Some people will even try and sell you "real" likes, but when looked at they are obviously fake profiles. They just actually have a profile picture and few statuses rather than a completely empty profile. In reviews and researching, I found that this is a huge problem. People buying likes/fan on Facebook, followers on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram, +1s on G+, ect. I found out that YouTube had a MAJOR crackdown and removed millions of views from big time artists that they found to be fake. YouTube and Facebook both have changed the way their systems rank things for this exact reason. Because people are skewing the numbers by cheating and buying fake number boosts. It was really disturbing how wide spread this problem was. I was really disappointed- realizing that this buying fans thing WAS to good to be true, and forgot about it.

    But apparently more and more people are finding out. I've noticed several pages with obvious fake spikes in their Likes. Just recently I noticed two mermaids who had obviously gone this route. Anyone who knows Facebook Pages will tell you these numbers are outrageous for the time slots. One page- Joins Facebook, and exactly a month later they have 1,000 likes. 4 days after that they have 2,000 likes. 10 days later they are rapidly approaching 3,000 likes. Another page that went from 400 to over 1,000 in a DAY. Both of these pages have no reason for their increased fans, such as media coverage. Also both of these pages the interaction from their fans either stayed the same as before the spike, or dropped by half or more.

    Beyond making you, and possibly your company, look bad and desperate- you also do more harm than good by artificially boosting your numbers. As I mentioned earlier, social media is quickly wising up to this market of artificial numbers. So they do what they have to- they make the numbers not count, or make it much harder for them to count. Now YouTube videos are not just ranked by how many views they have, but how LONG the video is viewed. This prevents the hundreds of bots who hit the video for a few seconds to not count as much as several hundred people who watch the video for the whole duration. YouTube also searches for artificially boosted views. If the views can't be verified or look suspicious, YouTube will withhold or remove them. Accounts are deleted, even. They even put in a new system that checks and verifies views when you hit 300 views on a video (you'll notice if a video hits 300 quickly it will say 301+ for a while until things can be verified, then it updates the view count once it is finished- this is all addressed in the YT FAQ).

    Facebook's hit was harder for those of us with pages. Basically your posts are seen by a measly 5-17% of your fans. The more fans interact with your content, the more of the remaining percent sees it as well. It's crappy, sure. I mean, most of us have worked hard for those fans! For those of us with legit, active fans, this is a pain but not a huge problem. For those who have, say, 1000 likes organically.. then bought 1,000 fake likes- well now only 3-8% see your content. Maybe more if you're lucky and the regular 5-17% hits more of your real fans than your fake ones. So now you have 2,000 fans, but only an average interactive rate of 50-100 likes for your updates. Or, because it dropped your view count, 25-50 likes for your updates. Because where you were before, it chopped it in half. Now your page ranking has dropped like a brick. It's even harder to get your real fans who are interested your updates, and harder still to gain fans organically (which your page does after you reach a certian number of likes as long as you keep updating and posting interesting content).

    I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather have real fans than fake numbers. It's like trying to building a house on a foundation of styrofoam (mostly air). In the end it does way more harm than good, even if it looks good on the outside for a while.



    So yeah, that's my bit.

    Wingéd Mermaid Iona

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  8. #8
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    Well said. Much better than I could put it. Its odd one of the mers we both saw doesn't even work or offer services so there really is nothing about it beyond "I have more fans!" That being said I watched a well known Mer do the same thing. Her likes went up by at least 500 daily before she even owned a tail. Its not hard to click on the fans and see all the fake ones. Plus bot accounts use stock images for profile pics lol

  9. #9
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    I actually find it funny now. Someone who clearly bought fake likes, (we're talking went up 1000 fans in one day, and then the next, with no posts, no media, nothing) not only can you check out the people who like their page and see they're all bots, but on the insights page it tells you the most popular city for people who like the page. For my page, Halifax is the most popular city with tampa coming second, most of my fan base come from those two series. This persons? Let's just say, it's not even on the same continent, in a poverty stricken third world country lol. Cuz you know, 1000s of fans must be liking their page from that city! *rolls eyes* it's just so incredibly pathetic. Talk about insecurity and the need to justify what you do even if it means lying.

  10. #10
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    So I've been researching this more, and trying to find valid like exchange websites for people to build up their fans. I also purchased another FB ad through FB. FB is trying to do away with bots, but bots are getting clever. When I first got my ad, I went up an insane amount of likes- I knew it couldn't have been legit. And within 24 hours FB removed nearly all of them for being bots. So I contacted them right away to be sure it didn't count toward what I was paying for the ad. I mean after all, I am paying for real fans, not bots that make my numbers actually go down. For anyone following my page around the time it happened, it was super frustrating. I watched my likes go up to 8k about 4 times before it actually stuck

    I've read a few more articles on the whole buying fake likes, and it really opened my eyes to just how many mermaids are doing it. Which is disappointing. Though unsurprising. I watched one well known mermaid's likes go up 20,000+ in A WEEK and all they'd done was re-shared old photos and random internet photos. No gripping media, no new content. And yet, no one seemed to notice? FB now allows you to actually see how many likes a person's page has gotten in a week. I can track all my pages and any other pages I want. Hannah fraser got around 100 new likes, and that was after posting new content and having new media about her manta stuff... but this person went up 20k with nothing.

    I also found out, a pretty sure fire way to know who is doing it. And I figured this out through reading several online articles and dealing with the FB ad help desk directly. The bots that do get through FB screening, happen to register from very very specific cities. They are: Bangkok, Krung Thep and Cairo. So, when a page has nothing but bots on it their "most popular city" comes up as one of these, or something obscure like something that isn't even a city. Like Bike or Male. The one day my page got bombed with bots, my most popular city went from Halifax, to Cairo. But after FB removed the bots, it went back to halifax. But people paying for likes will consistently have their most popular city for likes show up as one of those two.

    It makes sense, when you visit people like Hannahs page you'll see her most popular city is LA. She's based there. Mertailor and Raven come up either as LA or Florida. I come up as Halifax but a close second is Dartmouth (part of Halifax actually, they just divide it for some reason on FB) and then Florida in a close third.

    The reason I post this all is because it's important for people to recognize actual success, and the illusion of success. I often hear "well so and so has so many fans so they must be doing something right" as an excuse. And it's really hard for people who work their butts off on their companies to see other people seem to come by it so much easier. But really, the illusion is just that- an illusion. You can't let it get you down. It's not real, it's all just plumping to make oneself look better than they actually are.

    I've been working my butt off to figure out the most legit way to increase fans. In 2 months I've increased almost 4000 fans, whereas previously I'd be able to get 500-1000 fans every 1-2 months. I think I've nailed down the best ways, so I'll be writing a tutorial. Of course, facebook fans aren't what they used to be considering our "reach" has dropped so much. So it's always important to be looking into other things too. So I'll be posting that tutorial in the new year

  11. #11
    that really meant a lot to me Raina. Thanks for that

  12. #12
    Senior Member Pod of Texas Seatan's Avatar
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    That's very interesting to know, Raina. Facebook is really getting nuts.
    Once upon a time I was known as Seavanna. Going by Seatan these days. I always wanted to be the high lord of underwater hell.

  13. #13
    I didn't realise it was such a common thing to buy likes! Wow.
    One of the three Merlesque mermaids from the UK
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  14. #14
    So, what I don't understand is why anyone would even want fake likes, let alone pay for them? I'm confused.

  15. #15
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    it's the illusion of success. It makes you LOOK like you're doing better than you are. People then start giving themselves titles based on that etc.

  16. #16
    but appearance is everything. Others will then start to believe it and it will become a self fulfilling prophecy. You will get more real customers off of APPEARING to be ​successful.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Mermaid Golden Pearl View Post
    but appearance is everything. Others will then start to believe it and it will become a self fulfilling prophecy. You will get more real customers off of APPEARING to be ​successful.
    That's what some people think. But people also look at how many people are actually interacting with the content to see if your company is worth their time too. I kid you not, even 8 year olds know about buying social media followers and will call a page or profile out on it- everyone knows, the cat is out of the bag. Even if you don't see the the suspicious jump in likes/followers/ect, it's not hard to tell by interaction rates if a page or profile has a lot of fake likes/followers. And since on Facebook you only reach 15% or less of your fans usually (it's getting worse too) you're decreasing your reach even further by having inactive bots on there (as I explained in my earlier post). So yeah, it may be a small illusion, but most people aren't fooled anymore- and it can actually hurt you in terms of growing your business.

    Wingéd Mermaid Iona

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  18. #18
    I look at others who got like 3000 likes over night in a couple months and feel like shit. I was VERY hurt that I have such a low number of likes on my fb page. www.facebook.com/MerdivasStudios. But you guys made me feel better about the shamefully low number.

    I still can't help thinking people will look at the 3000 or 3 zillion likes and say UM... I think I will go with them! They must be doing something right to have a zillion likes in 2 months! I think I would look at it that way if I had not read this. Also I see some people get like 1000 likes in ONE WEEK. I am like How the heck are they doing that? I look at the products they are promoting and think they look mediocre at best but hey theyve got amazing numbers somehow
    Last edited by Mermaid Oshun; 01-02-2014 at 01:48 PM.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Mermaid Golden Pearl View Post
    I look at others who got like 3000 likes over night in a couple months and feel like shit. I was VERY hurt that I have such a low number of likes on my fb page. www.facebook.com/MerdivasStudios. But you guys made me feel better about the shamefully low number.

    I still can't help thinking people will look at the 3000 or 3 zillion likes and say UM... I think I will go with them! They must be doing something right to have a zillion likes in 2 months!
    It's not a shamefully low number! Starting of business is hard, and starting a page things are going to go slow for a while until your name gets out. And until you have enough work- more tails, more photoshoots with mers in said tails- that people share it and spread your name around, things will be slow. Even Finfolk tails have been on the scene and in private business (performing and making tails) for years before they finally officially launched their company and started selling tails to the public. Same with Merbella Studios. I also know Finfolk has been on the ball in terms of marketing! They are paying for ads in Mermaid magazines, and got a lot of exposure from NC Merfest even before it happened, and lots more. I wouldn't be surprised if they took out an Ad with Facebook as well. They're business savvy and aren't afraid to make investments in advertising, as well as having a business in their performing aspect to give them a boost as well. And Mertailor launched his career when he was a teenager. What I'm saying is it takes investment in time and money to get a business like this off the ground. You have to really work for it- it doesn't just happen! So don't give up hope

    Wingéd Mermaid Iona

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  20. #20
    Senior Member Pod of Texas Seatan's Avatar
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    Also, you might try giveaways. MANY of the craft-based pages I follow (Fancy Fairy, Organic Armor, etc, etc) do giveaways where you like their page and they pick a random person to get a prize. It's not paying for likes and it seriously increases likes. My friends with kids, especially, repost things for giveaways all the time! Find something that is not too hard to make and offer it free to one person who Likes your page and the post by a certain date.

    Iona is right about Finfolk--look at how picture heavy their FB page is. The Likes you have at MerDivas are a respectable number and are probably mostly those of us who would actually INVEST in a tail. Plus, Finfolk posts a new tail they have created almost every week, so there is always fresh content. MANY of FinFolk's/Merbella's/Mertailor's Likes are people who have nothing to do with mermaiding, saw the AWESOME pictures, and Liked them so they could see more. Investing in photoshoots and constantly posting photos will earn you more likes from these people.

    You shouldn't feel ashamed of the number of Likes you have--just be business savvy and come up with a plan of how to increase those Likes, doing things such as giveaways. Also, go Like other mermaid Pages and ask them if they wouldn't mind returning the favor.

    I will say, though, I do agree with you about the importance of SEEMING popular, but you don't need to buy likes to do it. I think when it comes to businesses, professionalism is the most important thing, and that professionalism is what MAKES you popular. As long as you seem as professional as a major corporation, nobody is going to notice that little number on your Facebook Page. A Page can have a million likes but if it looks like someone threw it together without investing time and money into it, I move on. With a new small business, everything you post should look professional. I HATE going to those mom and pop restaurants and looking at the menus with their Comic Sans font (you should NEVER be able to name the font someone uses in a logo on the spot, so it makes me grimace to see so many people use Comic Sans or Papyrus in their labels), or seeing a new small business with the tackiest, obviously self-made logo ever. I believe it is worth it to invest in a very professional looking website, professional logo, professional pictures, etc. Then people feel confident that you are a true business (even when you're really one person working out of their home!) This was what I did when I started up a website design company after college. I did intense research into my target market then paid someone to make me a logo that would appeal to that market. Next, I made sure that my website looked as professional as the highest level companies' did. Then I made sure to always refer to my company as if it was a major business, not some personal thing I was doing and I spent a LOT of time going to blogs that my target market read and commenting on them. Marketing a small business is REALLY hard work if you do it yourself, but it will pay off. People are willing to put their faith and money into a well established business, so until you ARE well established, it is important to come off as well established.

    (Note that I am NOT saying you aren't doing these things--I am simply agreeing that appearance is indeed important and listing what I did for my last startup business that seemed to work for me.)
    Once upon a time I was known as Seavanna. Going by Seatan these days. I always wanted to be the high lord of underwater hell.

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