Why people don’t ‘like’ your facebook posts

Facebook has got so political.  We are either annoyed that our Mother in Law never ‘likes’ our posts but she hits the button for everyone else or seriously hacked off that a facebook friend didn’t take the time to send a quick birthday message.  Facebook sends us a reminder each day which means if we are online there is simply no excuse.

If we overthink facebook it can be all to easy to take things personally.  I read a status last week that went something like this:

‘No matter how nice your pictures are or how real your quotes are – there are some people who will never hit the like button just because it’s you!’

Granted some will never engage because it is you – who cares? It is not worth losing sleep over. If you have 350 friends on Facebook and only 50 of them are actively liking your stuff then there are a few ways to look at it.

• People have missed posts

Those newsfeeds can get exhausting.  So much information.  Should we just like everything?  We could sit there all day like a robot.

• People don’t like to hit the ‘like’ button but they still love you

Over 40% of us do not like to actively engage on social media.  It doesn’t mean people don’t enjoy seeing your stuff.  Some people just don’t like to be seen to be on social media but secretly they love a good stalk.  They just prefer to remain anonymous about it.

• People are too busy to engage

Life is busy.  As much as we all love to keep up to date with what is going on there are days there simply isn’t time.  Perhaps we start something and really enjoy it, then get interrupted and forget to go back and comment.

• The stiff upper lip – are your posts too taboo?

So many of us like to avoid the big taboo topics and won’t hit like simply because the topic makes us feel awkward or it doesn’t directly have an impact on our lives.

• People are not interested in all of your posts

We don’t all like the same things – it keeps the world interesting.

• People are annoyed you never engage with their updates

Some people will only like your updates if you show an interest in theirs.  Also if people don’t hit like for you, they are less likely to get updates at the top of their feed.

• People don’t want to clog their friends newsfeeds with liking stuff

Instagram currently has a reputation for being tidier with the newsfeeds.  Although these days, with it being so busy on the platform, it can be very easy for your posts to get lost in the feed.  I have found my ‘behind the scenes’ stories get more and more views each year, yet the feed is a whole different story.  Some of us just don’t like clutter – online or off.

• People only like to engage with family and friends that they talk to and see often

Some may feel awkward showing an interest in someone they don’t see that much

When it comes to our personal facebook profiles I think it is so important to just have fun.  If the whole ‘like, love, laugh’ thing is having an effect on your self esteem then I would suggest you take a step back.  Perhaps trim your friends down to the ones who actively engage with you.

As for facebook from a business point of view, I find it fascinating to look at my viewing figures each month and how they change.

 

This post had a huge reach of 15,429 yet only 1,100 clicked on the article from facebook and I got 32 likes.  Does that mean only 32 out of the 1,100 enjoyed the article?  Not at all.  Lots of people later told me they did but they didn’t all actively like or comment.

If you are building a business page on facebook then clearly you are extremely passionate about it and you want people to engage.    Something we should never do though is take things personally.

I work hard, I try and put content out there that will help people.  Some pieces do phenomenally well and others don’t.  Rather than getting frustrated that I have spent hours writing something I really want people to see, I learn.  I monitor trends. If a piece doesn’t get much attention across social media but I strongly believe in it then  I send it to people who have a much bigger following than me and hope they will like it.  One of those pieces was recently picked up by a company with over 100,000 followers and my statistics went wild.  People were commenting and sharing like crazy.  The reason being that piece was bang on for the target audience it was being shared with.  So lots of people clicked on it and engaged.

I recently put the same picture on instagram and my facebook page.  Within 30 minutes I had 40 likes on instagram yet no likes on facebook.  This photo was a lot more relevant to people on instgram so it got more engagement.  Let’s face it – that is why we use social media.  We want to engage with people.  We want to be entertained and inspired.

 

 

If we were to take the number of likes we get too personally and over think it then we would lose focus and it would be all too easy to quit.  Facebook pages are great to spread  a message and create awareness but they do not define our success.  So next time you feel frustrated by a lack of likes or comments remember – don’t take it personally.  Keep going and keep working hard.  Learn from it.  The more I create content, which I will always do because I love it, the more I am reminded of what is important.  Keep your intensions at the heart of it, deep down we all have good intentions.  We simply get sucked along by life or hurt and we rebel.  As I will be exploring in my second book. there are many ways to get back to that pure place.  But it takes work.  Most importantly, don’t be so hard on yourself.  You are valuable.  You are so much more valuble than any surface level post on social media.

Jojo x

Jojo Fraser is an author, podcaster and motivational speaker.

Follow her popular podcast here, which is dubbed by her global listeners as ‘free therapy’.

Tune into her daily stories on Instagram @jojofrasermojo and Facebook @jojofrasermojo.

You can purchase her first book here.