The Great Facebook Video Swindle

The Great Facebook Video Swindle

Reader Comments (20)

  1. Thank you for enlightening me even more on the greed that has become facebook. Is this the same reason real time video was added to Instagram? Cause I hate that, too.

    After reading this, I’m considering abandoning all of my facebook accounts professional (2) and personal (1). I am heartened by the fact that writing is still Queen. I doubt my facebook pages are even garnering traffic to my website and ultimately resulting in any book sales. I highly doubt it.

    I will check your course out!

    • I see it the same way Lisa. Maybe the facebook pages put some traffic on your website but that doesn’t has to result in sales. I also tell my customers: a solid text will help more than blind social media marketing.

      Kind Regards – Michael

  2. Brilliantly put.

    Perhaps the most sobering point made (and one that should make content creators smile ear to ear) is how much young and old were still into text.

    Glad to know the data backs that up.

  3. I just deleted my Facebook last night. I even wrote a quick blog about it. https://www.timstodz.com/i-deleted-facebook/ I really hope that as a collective, we can get past this “attention seeking” mindset. I’ve learned through my companies that more attention has never equated to more sales or more success, just more busy. I try to focus on finding the right people who have an emotional investment in what it is that I am working on. Everything else is just entertainment and it’s not even that good.

  4. I deleted my Facebook account 7 years ago. Why? It was getting in the way of my writing, the way I butter my bread.

    (I do have a FB profile now, but with 6 friends – my wife and some old coworkers. I can’t be a digital advertiser without an account)

    Guess what? Not being on Facebook has had zero negative impact on my family life and career.

  5. For certain industries, video makes more sense than text. Hence the huge success of platforms like Craftsy. So in online education sure, make as many videos as you want! But I’m still one of those people who will jump for joy when I see a transcript alongside a video, because then I can print it out and make notes on it….which I can’t do with a video. Well, yet. I’m sure there’ll be an app for that one day.

    But I signed up for your course and can’t wait to get cracking!

  6. I wrote a small blurb earlier in the year about how a short Facebook-hosted video may maximize the chances of succeeding with Facebook ads, because Facebook generally prefer people to upload and consume stuff inside their platform while – as one would expect – encouraging them to spend more to play more.

    That being said, I have never bought into the whole video thing myself.

    If memory serves me correctly, I recall the likes of Social Media Examiner, the Membership Guys, Gary Vaynerchuk, et al promoting the idea to go big with video for the so-called “win”. Perhaps they were all influenced by Facebook’s message, and/or each other 😉

    And since so (perhaps too) many startups and micro businesses want to be like their idol, why would they not listen and follow suit?

    Don’t get me wrong, though. Videos have their place, and can make great sense when used appropriately.

    Personally, I don’t want to see the speaker in most videos. I consider them an unwanted distraction. I tend to switch off when video becomes predominantly about them rather than the content itself.

    In this context, I’m a “read first, listen second, watch third” sort of person 🙂

  7. Thank you for calling BS on this! I love the comments too. I am seeing fiction author associates who have their ad accounts permanently closed with vague explanation except their content was offensive. As near as they can tell, it is the use of the word You. That humiliation did them a big favor!
    I have great-grandchildren I watch on FB, but I don’t market there.

  8. Great stuff. I recall Copyblogger announcing that it was shutting down its Facebook Page (2014 I think). And now I see that it’s still up. Did you guys have a change of heart? Is it now valuable?

    Judging from the comments and other writers (then) many followed suit. This article seems eerily similar.

  9. Thank God someone finally said it! In my own mind, I have been thinking that all the hype around video has to be BS for all the reasons you have outlined. There are only a select few situations that a person finds themselves in throughout the course of their day when watching video is even remotely convenient.

  10. I’ve always preferred writing over video (When it comes to learning). Video has no easy way to skim like writing does. You have to sit there through the entire thing just to get the gist. And in a world where we want everything in the blink of an eye, video just doesn’t cut it. But don’t get me wrong, a funny 30-second clip of a dog skateboarding or an interesting 3 minute short about a city I’ve never heard of has its place too.

  11. Very well-written article.

    A brilliant example of boldly whipping up attention by taking a stand on a ‘hot button’ topic, then smoothly spinning it into a promo for your copywriting course.

    The ‘trajectory’ of this article is flawless!

  12. Thank you for this, it’s so nice to see someone actually saying how oversold video has been. A copywriter’s job is safe again (for now at least). I also love that both young and old agree that text is better. I personally can’t stand watching videos on Facebook, it takes a lot for one to get me to stop scrolling.

    (Side note, I signed up for the course and am loving it so far!)

  13. Brian,

    FINALLY! I have tried so hard to caution people … especially those in networking groups depending on Facebook to ‘be there’ for them … to understand it’s not about *them*. It’s all about Facebook.

    When I share this, maybe they’ll finally listen to me about the non-security of their groups’ Google Docs, too!

    If you don’t own it, you can’t control it.

    Sigh.

    Appreciate all the time it took to write this, thanks for NOT dragging Copyblogger into this mess, and I hope your family’s overseas adventure is going well. Kathie.

  14. Brian –

    You forgot to mention the coup de gras from our friends at Facebook. Planet Suckerberg (sp?) has decreed that, since it was such a great idea to monetize reach for businesses on Facebook, why not pull the same trick with video? Yep. Now that FB has conned everybody into thinking that video is The Next Big Thing™�, they are now limiting the scope of who that video may reach, unless you’re willing to pay. As in “through the nose.� Brilliant. The insatiable gaping maw of FBs accounts receivable now expects to receive payment for allowing your carefully crafted visuals to actually accomplish anything useful.

    It’s not like this can be called anything but, er um…Déjà view.

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