ODE TO ANDY ROONEY: My Social Media ‘Pet Peeves’, Part Two

TO CONTINUE
The first part of this blog post detailed my first ‘pet peeve’ about facebook. It involves the new ‘timelines for business pages’ and the page cover designs in particular. You can refer back to that post, Ode to Andy Rooney: My Social Media Pet Peeves, Part One to read it as well. This post, Part Two, will explore my ‘pet peeve’ #2. 

FACEBOOK PET PEEVE #2
It is no longer possible to count how many requests one gets in one day. If you ‘LIKE’ my page, I will ‘LIKE’ yours. These taunts are endless and nauseating. Can you hear my screams of frustration? This ‘LIKE 4 LIKE’ obsession no longer has a place in social media land.
HOW MANY FANS DO YOU HAVE?
There was a time, long ago in facebook time, when there were no business pages. There were personal pages for regular folks and fan pages for celebrities. Within one or two incarnations, that has all changed. ‘Fan pages’ were eliminated. They became ‘LIKE’ pages. The goal was to get as many ‘LIKES’ as possible. That was how the search engines determined one’s popularity or ‘reach’.
DON’T MESS WITH THE GOOGLE ALGORITHM
Google has mastered the shape-shifter game. Once too many ‘SEO-iacs’ figure out the algorithm for getting their clients highly rated by Google, Google changes shape. The ‘trick’ is no longer getting gobs and gobs of ‘LIKES’. But it seems that the pedestrian facebook timelines for business users have not gotten the message.
BECOME A TRUSTED CONNECTION

Now Google rates users by how much they interact and engage with each other. Imagine that. Google is rating business people by how social they are. What a unique concept. Social media is about being social. Yes, SOCIAL. That means being polite when making an introduction to another business owner and possible new colleague. It includes working on becoming a trusted connection. It holds as most sacred, being patient and waiting to talk business until the right time.
CONNECTIONS TAKE TIME
Communication on social media is no different from in-person interactions in many ways:
• Being polite when introduced
• Working at becoming a trusted colleague and connection
• Being patient about talking business and waiting for the right time to do so
Approaching a complete stranger with “ ‘LIKE’ me and I will ‘LIKE’ you” is like speed dating. It makes politeness a time consuming luxury. It does not leave room to become a trusted colleague or connection. It definitely obliterates patience.
THE IDEAL COUPLE

The one relationship that seems to have worked out very well is between facebook and Google. Who knows what was said behind those closed doors. No speed dating there. It just so happens that simultaneously Google changed its algorithm so that the numbers are no longer what matters most and facebook now requires only 30 LIKES for a business page to be fully functional. What a coincidence. Or was it?
So, to get to the point about Pet Peeve #2, once a business page has 30 ‘LIKES’, there really is no need to keep annoying people with, “If you ‘LIKE’ me, then I will ‘LIKE’ you”. (Imagine the annoyance of this being said by two pre-teen girls chatting with each other. No offense girls, but we’re talking boring business. So I doubt you would be interested in this discussion anyway.)
PET PEEVES PUT TO REST
I hope that the points that I have attempted to make are clear and that I have made my case. Is it Pet Peeve #1 or #2 that drives you to distraction? Is it both? Or is it neither? If you agree or even if you disagree, please let me know what you think. I would really like to hear from you. Thanks.
AUTHOR:

Alison Gilbert is a Digital Age Journalist. She is a regular contributing author to DBMEi, writes The Marketing Byte Blog and is The New York Graphic Design Examiner. Alison is the owner of MARKETING BYTES Solutions 4 Local Biz  located on Long Island, New York.
This boutique style – very personal service – hybrid company specializes in helping local/small biz generate sales leads by combining the best of traditional advertising with the latest online marketing technology. Contact Alison Gilbert at info@marketingbytes.biz or call 516-665-9034 EDT/NY/US. MARKETING BYTES serves local/small businesses virtually everywhere.
 
AUTHOR:

Alison Gilbert is a Digital Age Journalist. She is a regular contributing author to DBMEi, writes The Marketing Byte Blog and is The New York Graphic Design Examiner. Alison is the owner of MARKETING BYTES Solutions 4 Local Biz  located on Long Island, New York.

This boutique style – very personal service – hybrid company specializes in helping local/small biz generate sales leads by combining the best of traditional advertising with the latest online marketing technology. Contact Alison Gilbert at info@marketingbytes.biz or call 516-665-9034 EDT/NY/US. MARKETING BYTES serves local/small businesses virtually everywhere.

SOURCES:

     
 Photo of Andy Rooney © HolyTaco.com

• Ode to Andy Rooney: My Social Media Pet Peeves, Part One
• Facebook for Beginners, facebook group
• Google Algorithm Change
• A Secret About Facebook Likes That Most People don’t Know
• Facebook Edgerank
• Facebook on Google +, etc.