Facebook recently revised their Promotion Guidelines which obviously made a lot of [us] happy! To me, this is more of "a sigh of relief". No more confusion. No more fear that you're violating a (vague, highly debated) TOS. And best of all, no more Blogger police gnawing on the heels of your giveaway ethics! Brilliant, right? Yes. But there's a catch. There's a limitation to the new term and you should not be caught unawares.
The Good
With the new set of terms, Liking a page as an entry to a giveaway is now allowed (sans the use of a third-party application). A simple requirement that used to be a huge taboo in the blogger's community when running a giveaway. But no more. The gate is unlocked. Freedom. Go ahead and LIKE MY PAGE! Which goes along the lines of Clint Eastwood's, "go ahead and make my day!" Yes, please.
Why is Facebook doing it?
"We want to make it easier for businesses of all sizes to create and administer promotions on Facebook, and to align our policies to better meet the needs of marketers." - excerpt from Facebook promotion guidelines
In my interpretation? Speaking from an entrepreneurs point of view, "you give what your clients want to make them happy", happy customers mean profitable business. No more simpler than that! To me, this change is a business strategy that Facebook should have done long time ago. But then again, better late than never. I'm happy with this change and yeah, I'm looking forward to utilizing it. I've got 3 giveaways in the works and yes, a like would be nice!
The not-so-good
Though there's a cause to rejoice, your happiness scale won't reach 100%. Facebook did remove the restrictions but the caveat is, all promotions can only be done on your page and NOT on your PERSONAL TIMELINES.
This means, if you don't have a page, you're screwed. Unless, of course, you get a-crackin' now and create one pronto! Though I'd rather much prefer being able to promote my giveaway on both page and personal, Facebook doesn't seem ready to give up its Big Brother status yet.
"We want to make sure that people continue to post authentic, high quality content to their Facebook Timelines to stay better connected with the people they care about." - excerpt from Facebook promo guidelines
In My Translation? C'mon, it's our timelines, we know what we need to do to be "better connected" with the people we care about. Don't you? We should have the freedom as well to do what we want without being told what to do and can't do. What if I want my friends to know about the giveaway, especially those who'd rather check updates on my timeline and not on my page? Let's be realistic, some of our friends are not even "likers" of our pages nor plan on doing so. Our timelines are their main connection to us and that's pretty much it.
But then again I get it. Some of us want that segregation of personal and business aspects in place and that's find and dandy. But then yet again, would it be nice if we can make that own decision to do so and not be restricted?
I don't think it's a crime to share a giveaway on your timeline. It's your timeline after all. You should have full control on what you want to post and not. If Facebook wants to evolve into a Twitter-like environment (without the limitations of 140 character), then let Freedom ring!
Just my two cents.
Agree or disagree? Are you happy with this change?
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