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"I feel like the title invites a kneejerk reaction, but its entirely possible this was the best way the State Department had to increase their accessibility."

"I feel like the title invites a kneejerk reaction, but its entirely possible this was the best way the State Department had to increase their accessibility." Developing a presence on social media, sure. Buying "likes"..? I'd need to see a convincing case that this helps in any way. To me it sounds like a way of 'juking the stats', as they would say in The Wire. A way for the people who created the social media program to report to the higher-ups that "things are working really well, see, we have millions of people liking us and using our pages!"

anigbrowl 13y ago
That's not an accurate characterization. It's not that they were buying fake 'Likes' on, say, Facebook: After the 2011 reorganization, the coordinator initiated a push to expand the bureau's presence on social media and other digital platforms. IIP started or expanded English-language Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and blogs aimed directly at foreign audiences. The bureau also started or expanded online activities in six foreign languages. The coordinator initiated two campaigns in 2011 and 2012, with the goal of building global outreach platforms for engagement with foreign audiences by increasing the number of fans on IIP's four thematic Facebook properties, primarily through advertising as well as through some page improvements. The bureau spent about $630,000 on the two campaigns and succeeded in increasing the fans of the English Facebook pages from about 100,000 to more than 2 million for each page. Advertising also helped increase interest in the foreign language pages; by March 2013, they ranged from 68,000 to more than 450,000 fans. Many in the bureau criticize the advertising campaigns as "buying fans" who may have once clicked on an ad or "liked" a photo but have no real interest in the topic and have never engaged further. Defenders of advertising point to the difficulty of finding a page on Facebook with a general search and the need to use ads to increase visibility.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  Ooops - s/Facebook/eBay.
snowwrestler 13y ago
You can't actually buy "likes" on Facebook. You can advertise to people on Facebook, and some percentage of the people who see your ads will choose to "like" your page. Advertising is a tried and true way to increase the visibility of a product or service.

anigbrowl 13y ago

That's not an accurate characterization. It's not that they were buying fake 'Likes' on, say, Facebook: After the 2011 reorganization, the coordinator initiated a push to expand the bureau's presence on social media and other digital platforms. IIP started or expanded English-language Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and blogs aimed directly at foreign audiences. The bureau also started or expanded online activities in six foreign languages. The coordinator initiated two campaigns in 2011 and 2012, with the goal of building global outreach platforms for engagement with foreign audiences by increasing the number of fans on IIP's four thematic Facebook properties, primarily through advertising as well as through some page improvements. The bureau spent about $630,000 on the two campaigns and succeeded in increasing the fans of the English Facebook pages from about 100,000 to more than 2 million for each page. Advertising also helped increase interest in the foreign language pages; by March 2013, they ranged from 68,000 to more than 450,000 fans. Many in the bureau criticize the advertising campaigns as "buying fans" who may have once clicked on an ad or "liked" a photo but have no real interest in the topic and have never engaged further. Defenders of advertising point to the difficulty of finding a page on Facebook with a general search and the need to use ads to increase visibility.

anigbrowl 13y ago
Ooops - s/Facebook/eBay.

snowwrestler 13y ago

You can't actually buy "likes" on Facebook. You can advertise to people on Facebook, and some percentage of the people who see your ads will choose to "like" your page. Advertising is a tried and true way to increase the visibility of a product or service.