Save 50% on a 3-month Digiday+ membership. Ends Dec 5.
People like numbers, and in social media, one key metric brands, agencies and publishers pay attention to is the amount of followers or likes one has. The like obsession has a bit of a “scoreboard” mentality. Facebook has fed this with ad products specifically designed to boost brands’ likes.
But now, Facebook appears to be shifting course. It began last month, when Facebook began making clear to brands that its likes don’t mean a whole lot when it comes to distribution. Just 16 percent of brand updates get through. Now, Facebook is cracking down on like fraud, achieved via “malware compromised accounts, deceived users, or purchased bulk likes.”
While Facebook tacitly endorsed this follower mentality, it’s nice to see it move beyond the like. It is now emphasizing how many people are talking about brands. Overall social media has been infected, on both a personal and corporate level, with “follower envy” that obscures its real power of direct communication.
More in Media
Digiday+ Research Subscription Index 2025: Subscription strategies from Bloomberg, The New York Times, Vox and others
Digiday’s third annual Subscription Index examines and measures publishers’ subscription strategies to identify common approaches and key tactics among Bloomberg, The New York Times, Vox and others.
From lawsuits to lobbying: How publishers are fighting AI
We may be closing out 2025, but publishers aren’t retreating from the battle of AI search — some are escalating it, and they expect the fight to stretch deep into 2026.
Media Briefing: Publishers turn to vertical video to compete with creators and grow ad revenue in 2026
Publishers add vertical video feeds to their sites to boost engagement, attract video ad spend and compete with news creators.
Ad position: web_bfu