At the end of the summer, Facebook’s executive team announced they’d no longer be enabling the promotion of certain types of Page posts. This declaration marks a shift towards “more specific business objectives,” according to team members, rather than the social stats of yore. Before
the announcement, any Pages owner could “boost” a post on their page, including posts about what they’re watching on TV, where they’ve checked in,
and whether they’ve updated a profile picture.

Now, however, Facebook’s decided that these types of “lesser used” promotions aren’t fulfilling advertiser goals, and can’t be boosted as promotions
anymore. Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, claims that Facebook’s crackdown initiatives aren’t unique in the social media realm.
“Marketers of all sizes are…following our best practices,” she claims, including “optimizing their ads to drive real-world outcomes.”

Steering Away from Likes…and Towards Actual Profit.

Critics, however, find much to scorn in Facebook’s sudden fixation on the bottom line. Alongside other concerns about Facebook’s expansion of the
fake fan trade, the push towards making promotional material more advertising-focused seems, to some, to go against Facebook’s original values of equity
and accessibility.   

Evolutions to Facebook’s News Feed algorithm have also changed the frequency with which Pages posts appear. Today, Page posts have a smaller reach
than ever before – and a Page’s number of Likes no longer corresponds with its popularity, since paid fans are so rampant on the social media platform.

And in the wake of Facebook’s announcement, it’s likely we’ll see numerous social media organizations straying from “vanity metrics” and moving towards
statistics that truly reflect business goals and outcomes.

The Pages Bottom Line.

As of September 15, 2017, numerous types of Pages post won’t be eligible for paid boosting, including shares of stories about for-sale posts, check-ins
at any locations, note shares, place recommendations, and comment shares. Profile picture changes won’t be boostworthy, either, and neither will videos
or images uploaded through the Facebook camera, sports events, video playlist shares, or political endorsements.