[column type=”one-half” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px”][custom_headline type=”left” level=”h1″ looks_like=”h1″]True Facts About Disappearing Likes That Will Make You Rethink Your Panic Attack.[/custom_headline][/column]

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A recent move by the folks at Facebook headquarters has some page admins panicking. Why are numbers of likes – precious fans! – disappearing from the page? Keeping a close eye on the number of likes on a particular Facebook Page, many have noticed a worrying number of small losses. What’s going on?

The truth is, Facebook is not out to sneak-attack your page likes, despite what it might look or feel like. Nor are users disappearing from your page’s reach because of an error. Most pages have accounts that aren’t true followers. They might be old, deleted accounts, spammers, fake, or any other number of things. Facebook heaps these accounts together and calls them “voluntarily deactivated and memorialized” accounts.

Let’s clear up the confusion.[/column][gap]

Making Page Likes More Meaningful

First, read what Facebook announced this past February:

Businesses use Page audience data to understand what their followers care about. To make audience data even more meaningful for businesses, we’re updating the way Page likes are counted by removing memorialized and voluntarily deactivated accounts from Pages’ like counts. This change ensures that data on Facebook is consistent and up-to-date.

In other words, many pages have likes on their page that aren’t truly likes. An ideal “like” is an individual Facebook user who’s interested in following page content. In the name of clarity, Facebook is working to ensure page admins have a more accurate portrayal of their actual audience size.

The result will be more accurate insights. Be glad! The world will be a slightly less spammed place.

We’ll be seeing a lot less “farm” agencies, businesses that offer likes for money. This practice depends on fake accounts. There’s a direct comparison to “black hat” SEO tactics that play the stock market. In those cases, they try to break the system with aggressive search engine tactics. Even thoug there can be short-term gains, they’re short lived. Ultimately, these end with long term penalties from Google. Penguin sort of sealed the deal when it was first released. Google’s algorithm rewards SEO methods that focus on a human audience rather than search engines.

People who play the stock market are playing statistics. Studies have shown time after time these fall under the typical bell curve (or that their potential to win is the same as flipping a coin). Instead we believe that great work over time leads to great results.

Lastly, let’s clear up one fundamental point in all of this. Facebook likes are one of the last metrics that should you should consider as a legitimate insight. The most accurate data supports real customer engagement leading to a return.