There is a saying around keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.
While I don’t recommend having and making enemies, I have this week thought long and hard about my relationship with Facebook.
On Feb 18, when I went to do my daily check in of news on Facebook, I couldn’t. I went then to my news apps (note that I did this SECOND) and discovered what is now common knowledge that Facebook had made good on its threat to shut down all information providers if our Federal Government forced them to pay for news.
I initially made a bold statement that I would no longer use the platform until it returned my news – but I’ve since realised that action is cutting my nose off to spite my face(book).
In the couple of days since most of the articles I have read have been around how these actions look to a worldwide audience. Dare I say it, but the world doesn’t really care about our piddly little issue with
Facebook – they’ve got their own stuff and our’s feels very much like a Kardashian episode rather than a PBS investigation.
I’ve also seen that all the respectable news providers have updated their sites and other platforms to remind us that they still exist and are equally easy to find and use. I didn’t need this reminder, what was more of note to me was that I’d been up till this point using Facebook first. I won’t do that again.
On the 18th I made the comment in a previous article about how both faulty and effective Facebook algorithms are. I get ads on the platform immediately when I search or buy a product online. Well done Facebook!
Equally, for some businesses that made the mistake of having the word “news” in their business profile – i.e. “this page features news about my cat” – they also have been shut down simply because of a word choice, and no one gets their daily update from Fluffy!
Yesterday, I put into practice what I’ve been wondering since Thursday morning’s (lack of) news.
What if every single news provider shut down their Facebook pages and started them again with a different business profile and description?
Could we beat the Facebook algorithm at its own game?
I created a new page – enterprisingly called Gnus and Wether. I described it as a pet supplies business providing all your gnus and wether needs. Then, I cut and pasted articles from the ABC, SBS and a local news publication with this picture of a gnu at the top of each article.
Nothing has been blocked or banned yet.
The delicious irony is that what you are reading right now can’t be shared to Facebook, but I (and you) can share it via our radio, media, podcast and TV networks privately.
What if all of us did it?
We could have our gnus and wether back up and running in no time.
Pass it on.
About the author
Jen Seyderhelm is an announcer, podcaster, producer, writer, news reader and music historian. She works for 2CC Canberra and is part of the Raiders Call Team.
Jen is a trainer in voice over and podcasting; her website is jenxaudio.com.au – you can find her Australian One Hit Wonders page here (if facebook hasn’t blocked it).
Subscribe to the radioinfo podcast on these platforms: Acast, Apple iTunes Podcasts, Podtail, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, or wherever you get your podcasts.
