Buckle up, everyone but it looks as though the days of posting links to Facebook for free may be numbered.
In the early days of social media, the idea of adding a link to drive traffic was the cornerstone of many strategies.
But in a series of developments Meta is exploring radical restrictions on pages’ ability to post links.
I’ll set out what they may mean in this post.
Links are bad
Firstly, links. I’ve been highlighting the folly of posting links for some time. Algorithms hate them. It is far more effective to tell the story on the platform.
Indeed, the most recent Meta data release on what makes up people’s timelines underlines the folly of the practice. Links now make up just 1.9 per cent of people’s timelines. That’s roughly the same percentage chance you have of winning a prize buying a National Lottery ticket.
Feeling lucky?
Here’s the data:
While this data shows the tactical pointlessness of posting links on Facebook there are noises that it may soon be physically impossible to do.
Meta wants pages to pay
Late last year, Meta trialled a scheme to limit the number of links a Facebook page could post for free.
It’s unclear how exactly this may take shape in the future. It may or may not affect adding a link to the comments as per the current algorithm-dodging technique. Some reports say this turns the link comments to plain text.
All this has been seen as a nudge for pages to become Meta Verified.
Meta Verified costs between £14.99 and around £300 for the top tier. This status gives pages some protection against impersonation as well as access to customer service for common issues.
Given how hard it is to contact Facebook on matters there’s an argument to say this could potentially pay for itself.
Meta Verify for Business also allows the ability to add links in a very restricted way to Reels. The Meta Verify for Business price list is here. Such status would cover Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram all in one.
Meta wants people to pay to be users
Last year, a British woman successfully took Meta to court to demand they stop serving her adverts. ‘Go her’, I suspect you are saying. In the wake of this, Meta drew-up some changes. In short, they’ll stop serving you ads but you need to pay.
As a result, Meta have announced plans for a premium subscription for users for Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. In the UK, that’ll cost an individual £2.99 for web or £3.99 for the Android or iOS app and rewards the user by having an ad-free timeline. It appears not to be an option yet for a corporate page.
Those who invest big money on Facebook ads and the like are somewhat troubled by this. It means they are pitching their ad to a smaller pool. But most public sector Facebook accounts don’t really have large ad spends. So, that particular element won’t affect them.
There you go. As I blogged last month, what you think social media is is now nostalgia.
This is more evidence.
For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape.
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Picture credit: Computer in a 1970s office by Tyne & Wear Museums.
