Phew.

Crazy night on my Facebook page.

I was a little bit of a rager, which I try not to do.  But Facebook is really pissing me off.  While I understand I can only complain so much b/c Facebook is FREE – I have said it before and I will say it again, “I would rather pay an (affordable!) usage fee for my Facebook blog page and in return get SUPPORT from FB and *gasp* have my posts SEEN by my fans.”  (Crazy concept, I know).

If you’re already on my FB page (love you!) then you saw me lose my cool a bit this evening as I posted a picture of how much Facebook is now giving me the “opportunity” to pay PER POST to reach 21k of my 34k fans.  Are they SERIOUS?  Who can afford that?  And even if my pockets were lined with gold bars (which I can ASSURE you, they are not), there is not even an option to REACH all of my fans.

Fans = people who have, of their own non-coerced free will, chosen to click that little “LIKE” button which is basically like saying, “YES!  I want your status updates and subsequent posts to roll through my news feed because I surely would hate to miss a wonderful deal!”

WHAT?!

Who will benefit from these Facebook shortcomings?  Big companies, obviously.  Companies that can afford to run big, splashy, expensive advertising campaigns will have no problem reaching most of their FB fans while the rest of us are left shouting desperately into our empty cavernous FB pages in the hopes that even one reader will hear us.

Alright.  So short of convincing Mark Zuckerberg that small businesses/blogs/websites are run by amazing, self-motivated, creative persons who work their buns off and deserve to be helped, promoted and celebrated instead of squashed out by the almighty dollar and big corporations *takes a breath* there are a couple things you can do to make sure you are seeing all the good stuff your favorite pages post – whether that includes mine or not.

1)  Go to a fave Facebook fan page.  Hover your mouse over the almighty LIKE button.  Select Show in News Feed.  If at any time you don’t see that page’s updates in your news feed, go back and make sure this option is still checked.  Facebook is notorious for changing your preferences without telling you.

2)  Create a list that includes your favorite fan pages.  This is a nice option if you like to follow more than one fan page.  It will plunk all of their updates into your news feed and will also allow you to categorize and organize your preferred pages.

Here’s how to create a list.

Go to the fan page you’d like to add.  Click on the arrow button next to the MESSAGE button. Choose the option to add to interest lists.

I did not have any lists created so I need to choose NEW LIST.

Select the fan pages that you want to appear on your new list.  After you have selected your desired pages, click NEXT.

Give your list a name.  Decide who (if anyone) should be allowed to edit your list.  Click DONE.

Head back to your HOME screen on Facebook.  You should see your lovely new list on the left sidebar.

That’s it.  That’s all I got.  According to my Facebook stats, on average, only about 9% of my current Facebook fans are seeing the posts that I put up.  So after breaking my back for 3+ years to beg and plead for Facebook fans, it appears to have been in vain.

But there is a bright spot.

I now have the “privilege” to promote my posts to folks who are already my fans.

Touché, Mark Zuckerberg, touché.

p.s. Want to follow my awesomeness?  Like my Facebook page.  Even though you will probably never see a thing I post.  Unless of course you are one of the elite Cheaps 9%ers.    Thanks to Sarah for coining that glorious phrase.

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