Facebook Business Page – comic ineptitude or worse?

For those who have considered using a Facebook business page, be prepared to subject yourself to agony and frustration. On the other hand, if you like self-inflicted pain, Facebook business page may be for you. If you like banging your head against a wall because it feels so good to stop, Facebook business page is an alternative.

I experimented for less than one day with a Facebook business page, to conclude that is a waste of my time and effort.

First, a little background. Facebook claims that a business page can reach a huge audience because IT IS FACEBOOK. Never mind that Facebook's “clever” algorithms will block and censor one's own content because the algorithms think that the page administrator does not own the content. Ask me how I know this. If interested, keep reading, otherwise run far away from Facebook. It is a dark comedy that Facebook cannot keep private information secure but can censor one's own content.

Facebook provides a guide on how to set up a business page. Create a page, add photos, add content, invite your friends to like your page, and then Facebook will offer to reach a greater audience, for a fee of course.

Add photos: Since I am a visual artist, I added one of my photos (similiar to above). Immediately, I received a message that it was blocked and only I could see it, because it did not meet community standards. It was photo of the Irish coast. I did not realize my photos of the Irish coast were so offensive. Maybe Facebook algorithms do not like Ireland. Maybe the algorithms do not like my work and are protecting the rest of the world from being forced to look at it. In the message was a “Review” button, which I guess activates a request to remove the block. I clicked on the button and I was involuntarily logged out, with a message that the page was locked because of suspicious activity. I may be a suspicious character in some situations, however, I did not know that requesting a review was suspicious. I should have learned a lesson right there; it gets better, in a warped kind of reality.

I went through the process of logging in with a confirmation code that was sent to my email. Upon opening the page, there was a message for me that for a fee of XX Swiss francs, my blocked post could reach hundreds Facebook users. Now my feeble mind was trying to process the sequence of events.

1. Create a post
2. Post is blocked
3. For a fee, the blocked post could reach hundreds, or maybe even thousands, if I pay more.

I remember word association games, during which one person said or did something and I said the first word that came to mind. When I play this game with Facebook, I cannot help but think “ransom” or “bribe.” If I want to subject myself to a ransom/bribe situation, I will go backpacking in North Korea or try to be mayor of Baltimore (oh no, did I just write something political, for which I will be censored?).

Maybe Facebook does not know that this happens; there could be a covert war of the algorithms and the machines are trying to conquer the humans. I should have stopped at this point, but like a spectator of a train wreck, I could not turn away. I had to know, how bad can this get?

I added a post that linked to a photo of an Irish castle on my website (https://djessemay.com/new-images/75-ardgillan-ireland.html). Surprise! There was a message that the post is blocked and only I can see it. Again, I clicked on the “Review” button and again I was logged out due to suspicious activity.

I went through the log-in process again, and to my surprise (irony) there was an offer to reach hundreds or thousands of users for a fee. I had confirmed that the machines really are trying to conquer the humans. Where is the Terminator when I need him? Did I stop there? No, of course not. I had to stick my finger in the soup again to see if it was hot.

I repeated the post that linked to my website, and all the steps (blocking, review, etc.) were repeated with one addition; I was locked out with no option to log in. The world is now safe from me posting my own content on a Facebook business page. The machines won.

Finally, I learned that Facebook business page is not for suspicious characters like me. Even the blind squirrel eventually finds a nut. I would advise anyone who asks, to not to even try. Stick your finger in a bowl of hot soup or take a bite of pizza, fresh from the oven. Or ask your dentist to drill your teeth or bury your head in the snow for ten minutes; the results are faster and not that much different.