Why Facebook is Used but Not Liked

Facebook is relentless in their endless solicitations to attempt to get people who download their Pages Management app for Mobil to post a review in the App Store. I usually don't bother. Unless I love an app. Then Ill take the time to write a quick one up to help support that app.

One too many requests by the busy bees at FB finally compelled me to write such a review. But not because I love it. On the contrary. The app is almost useless for anything one might wish to accomplish on their own FB page. More a toy than an app. So I decided to share these thoughts with them via the App Store before I delete it altogether.

What I discovered is that many other users feel the same way. In a world where most apps out there have a plethora of five star glowing reviews, FB Pages Manager app is surprisingly unloved. Hovering just above 2.5 stars out of 5. Certainly not a five star app so far. I found one or two things NOT mentioned by previous reviewers to add and did. Pasted below.

"It would appear that none of the programers who design this app actually use it as a FB page admin themselves. They're programmers not business owners or commodities unto themselves so that makes sense. But they NEED to get someone in there w them full time who IS a regular FB Page admin or else this app is never going to be much use to those who could benefit from it. 1. Users need to be able to log in AS their page and then visit OTHER PEOPLE's pages and post there AS THEIR page. As we r able to on FB desktop version. Right now it is impossible. If you leave your page you r right back as YOU personal (or another one of YOUR OWN pages) -- as opposed to being the page you want to be. In other words we cannot even post or share on one of our own pages from /as one of our other pages. Thats crazy. 2. We need to be able to peruse and tag our own and other people's personal profiles when logged into and acting as one of our pages. That requires either going back to desktop or switching back to our personal profile etc. too much hassle -- which DISCOURAGES users from even bothering. Hence they forget and never bother. 3. This may not be the place for it but FB makes it so damn impossible to contact human beings that this is the best format users have: Businesses companies artists anyone / anything that has a FB page that people have voluntarily Liked (because they like that product person or service) should NOT be charged extra for their own fans/followers to see their posts. This is WHY people LIKE a page, i.e. to see what that product / person is up to on a regular basis. Why on earth would FB deliberately block the majority of a Page's fans from being able to see that pages posts? It's bad-greedy. Not good-greedy. Downright retarded business. What they don't realize is that in the Personal Expression Age people are not willing to be played with like that and they show it through word of mouth and taking actions. thus they just flat out refuse to pay for sponsored posts let alone advertise a page once they find out that they'll be forced to pay for their own followers to read their posts. Too many other options exist as work arounds. So people choose those instead -- just out of principle. This is the single biggest obstacle FB faces currently in being Liked themselves. People may use the site but they don't like the company. Google and Apple on the other are beloved. FB can hop aboard that love train any time. Best of all they'll make MORE money from pages. More people will be encouraged to USE pages instead of personal profiles and thus they'll then pay to advertise their page. It's common sense. Fix these things and the other suggestions in these reviews above and below and FB may just start being Liked and respected and admired as opposed to just being used."

Bottom line, does Zuckerberg want to be like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs one day or does he want to forever be known as that obnoxious guy who nobody wants to like as he is now? Sure there's a certain amount of mainstream riffraff-envy involved in being that successful that just comes with the territory and thus you're never going to win a popularity contest. But Jobs and Gates were as beloved as they were despised because they were rockstars.

The jury is still out on Zuck already due to the dubious questions revolving around the origins of Facebook to begin with regarding how much was his and how much was just ripped off from what was already out there? Friendster and MySpace anyone? Not to mention the three other business partners and co-creators he screwed over in the process of usurping total control of the idea. His bedside manner leaves something to be desired. Rather than a mad genius ala Steve Jobs one gets a feeling instead that Zuck may instead just be a pompous ass and greedy opportunist. Not the greatest legacy one would wish to leave trailing behind them.

Zuck def needs some good PR fix it help. Especially as he ages into full on adulthood. Facebook is a fun and functional tool to be sure. But it is easily replaced as we've seen countless times before. Tumblr? Now there's a pop culture company founder one can easily get behind success-envy and all. The key is that you want people to respect you so much that they want to be like you, not resent you for your success. They have to believe that you are deserving of your success and are a generally nice and trustworthy person. Right now Zuckerberg has neither going for him. But there's always hope. Either that or we may be thinking about Facebook in the same terms as we do Yahoo as a search engine two years from now.


- Posted by The Ambassador using BlogPress on an iPhone