"FB fans aren’t seeing your posts (and how to fix it)"

I find Facebook a very valuable tool for promoting and booking stuff for our band. But I'm taking less and less stock in it lately. I always felt like it was only a matter of time until they either went the way of myspace or turn people off with some other type of "pay for" premium type scheme. I believe that Zuckerberg's original intent behind FB was true but when anyone accumulates that much wealth it's just a matter of time until the scumbags win.

This is why I'm still hanging on to the OJ site and the forum here. As long as I can afford it, this will be a free place to express yourself that everyone has access to. I sort of wish people took advantage of it a little bit more but to each her and his own.

We also still send flyers to venues and emails out and try to connect with people, on a direct level, as much as possible. I think a lot of people have gotten used to the idea that if they do it on FB then everyone they know knows about it. Here's proof that that's just not the case. FB is running a classic bait and switch tactic here. Since we've gotten so used to learning about things and connecting through FB for free, they seem to be banking on the idea that if they cut off some of that access, that we are used to, then we'll be willing to pay to get it back. Bam! What was supposed to be a neat tool for connecting you with other people more easily just turned into another bill / link in the chain around your neck, just like your phone bill and your Internet bill. Everyone just got rid of their land lines but now we'll all have to pay our Facebook bills if we want to have full access. Fuckers!

I'm kind of in agreement with both of you if that's possible. I think one really has to watch their FB/Internet usage and see it for what it is.

There are 2 aspects to FB that I think need to be viewed separately: There's the surfing or lurking aspect. And there's the sharing or content generating aspect.

As far as lurking, sure, that's like TV. You can watch a PBS program and learn about Quantum Physics or you can watch Mob Wives. Depending on your state of mind both can be enlightening, entertaining, or fry your brain.

When it comes to producing content, I've always considered FB a tool, more or less, for promoting the company that is "Me." And it, as well as other social media and Internet tools like email and blogs have helped give me the freedom to pursue more of a life that I want. Tools can be used to build things and sometimes tools can hurt or destroy things if they aren't used properly. When a tool promises something and then doesn't deliver then the tool is less useful for me. I try as hard as I can but, let's face it, the persona that I, or anyone else, portrays on any social media site is not the full package. But sometimes people don't want the full package. I suppose the question is: How much do all the little packages distract us or how much do they help us in getting the full packages that we want to make us more happy and fulfilled?