Facebook Update Reduces Page Like Counts

First–your’e not going crazy. Your Page Likes were higher yesterday or even last week than they are this morning–it’s okay. You’ve done nothing wrong.

Second–earlier this year, Instagram created an update that eliminated fake accounts which resulted in a huge drop in followers for celebrities like Rapper, Akon—who lost over 56% of his Instagram audience. It was a good thing—the actual followers that were left on IG were most likely there due to organic growth—not fake spambot accounts.

New Facebook Algorithm Is Here

In the next coming weeks, if you own a business Facebook page, you’re likely to see a small dip in the amount of “likes” your page has. In case you’re wondering why–it’s not because you posted something offensive or followers all of a sudden don’t like your page any longer. Community managers and admins work very hard to engage the right audience and grown Page Likes organically, but unlike the change on Instagram, this update isn’t about fake accounts, only those that are inactive.

As I mentioned in 4 Reasons Facebook Will Remain a Powerhouse in 2015,  Facebook is always moving toward optimizing the user experience and this algorithm change is no different. They are removing two types of accounts from business Page Like totals; deactivated and memorialized accounts.

“To make audience data even more meaningful for businesses, we’re updating the way Page likes are counted by removing memorialized and voluntarily deactivated accounts from Pages’ like counts,” the company explained in a blog post. “This change ensures that data on Facebook is consistent and up-to-date.”

I’m sure you’re thinking to yourself that it might be a no-brainer that once an account was actually deactivated it would naturally be removed from your Page Likes—apparently not so.

This Facebook algorithm change is going to affect those deactivated accounts that are done so voluntarily, but that aren’t actually deleted from Facebook. Should the owner come back in and reactivate the account, the new Page Like will reappear. So, those wanting to step away from Facebook and come back later can do so undisturbed.

What to Expect

Most business Pages will only see a slight drop in Page Likes—possibly less than 2-5%. That’s not much in the grand scheme of things and this change actually keeps us all in the know and belief that those that are following our communities are there because they really want to see our content and care about the engagement we’re creating—which is GREAT!

About Us: Infinite Reach Agency specializes in advanced Facebook marketing through ad placement and daily social engagement. If you have questions on this topic or have questions on how to implement a proper Facebook ad campaign, contact us for a complimentary 30 minute consultation! We’re happy to help!