“Facebook is Boring.” (Part 1)

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A friend posted this on Facebook: “It seems that I find myself going to bed earlier each night. It's not from being tired, it is from being bored. Ciao people, be good, play nice.”

I immediately commented to him: “You are bored?”

His reply: “…FB at times does get repetitive in so far as it’s the same thing different day.”

Randy (not his real name) hops on Facebook after work. He sees post after post of cute kittens, music videos, excessive whining, and pretty scenery. The bulk of the photo and video posts are unoriginal and many of his friends don't even include any commentary to personalize it. 

Oh! And the pages that Randy is a fan of? What about the posts there? Well, first of all, he only sees a small percentage of posts from pages. Why? Because that’s the way Facebook works; they want businesses to pay to reach people who have liked their page!

You knew that already.

Randy needs to take more control of his Facebook experience. We'll discuss friends in part 2. This go round we'll focus on pages.

If Randy wants to see posts from his favorite pages there are two ways to do so. 

• Go to that page and like and comment on a few posts. Facebook will recognize the interest (hopefully) and will start showing posts from that page to him in his newsfeed. As long as he keeps interacting, he’ll see the posts. Of course, it’s unclear as to how much interaction is required to make this happen. Here’s what I found: There’s several pages that show up in my newsfeeds currently. I like posts for any particular page maybe once or twice a day and sometimes add a comment as well. 

• The second option: Go to that page and click on the little blue down arrow to the right of the cog (which is to the right of the message button in the upper right of the page below the cover art). From there you can create an interest list. 

It’s an underutilized tool. In a nutshell, you can create a list of what you'd like to keep tabs on based on an interest (perhaps you are a foodie and dig chocolate desserts?) or you could create a list of your favorite pages! The majority of posts from that page will show up in your newsfeed; easy!

Viewing this from another angle, those businesses that are trying to reach you through the wall that Facebook has put up between you and them will truly appreciate your engagement on their page, especially those small businesses that really don't stand a chance with Facebook’s algorithms. 
And a note to the small businesses who are trying to find an audience on Facebook. Google+ comes with no shenanigans. 

John Mellencamp sang about crumbling walls (see below). One can only hope that Facebook will let those walls come a tumblin’ and a crumblin’! Don't tumble while juggling social media! stop by our website, or visit us on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.