We Need to Make Some Changes

Sharing is caring!

Today I want to tackle the big white elephant in the room. Facebook. I’m not going to complain about Facebook and go on and on about their big, bad algorithm like other sites because this isn’t a shocker. I always knew (and kind of expected!) that Facebook would start to shut down all the “free” social media and connection with our followers/fans.

I get it. I don’t own Facebook. I can’t make them do anything. I can’t make them show you guys our status updates, our giveaways, our videos, or our travel coverage. Believe me, every time I post something on Facebook, I can see how many of you they showed the post to. Whether you chose to “like” us or not (hey! did you see we hit 50,000 fans?!?), it doesn’t matter. Facebook is 100% in control of their own site. Sure, all the interaction was fun while it lasted but like someone else said, “When you build your house on somebody else’s property, you can’t ever forget that they own it, not you.” (Shelly Kramer – v3im.com)

Like I said, I don’t own Facebook. I own Baby Gizmo. And luckily, I didn’t build my house on Facebook. Sure, it was a fun “vacation home” but our main home is right here on BabyGizmo.com. It has been here since the beginning when we launched in 2005 and continues to thrive today right here on our own turf. Where we make the rules. Where we do the giveaways. Where we show you the videos.

Does it make me sad when our wonderful readers miss out on something fabulous that we are doing because Zuckerberg decided that day that he didn’t want Facebook to show you the update? Sure.

Is it frustrating when you hear that a reader missed a fabulous giveaway (hint: one *might* be starting on Monday!) because they were solely depending on Facebook to give them the heads up? Absolutely.

I’ll admit it, I play by all the rules and try to beat the Facebook algorithm by switching things from time to time. Some days I put the link in the comments. (By the way, I know how frustrating that one is!)  Another day, I may try to use regular links and not change them to the shortened bit.ly links to see if that makes a difference. I’ve done it all and the bottom line is I do not own Facebook and have no power to make Zuckerberg and his Facebook team do anything. It’s business. I get it.

That’s why we have to change how many of us are doing things. We can’t depend on Facebook to give us all the updates. Sure, it’s easy to just scan down our Facebook Timeline to see everyone’s updates all at once. That is the beauty of social media. Unfortunately, you are missing so much!! It’s like going through your day with special goggles on that only allow you to see what THEY want you to see.

Take the goggles off and start checking on your favorites! At their home! At their website! Not at someone else’s website that feeds you what they want you to see. You wouldn’t check on your best friend by stopping by a neighbor’s house, would you? Nope. You’d go straight to their home!

We have to go back to how it was pre-Facebook. That doesn’t mean abandon Facebook. That is just too hard, I understand. I couldn’t abandon Facebook even if I wanted to at this point. It’s a guilty pleasure. Just don’t depend on it.

Most of you still visit our home here for all our updates, giveaways and videos! For many of you, our website is the first thing you check in the morning and I thank you for that! You’d hate to miss our breaking news, a fabulous giveaway, an ah-ha video that shows you something that you didn’t know before, our reviews, and all the other crazy stuff we do around here, right?! Unfortunately, there are a few of you out there who are just sitting back and depending on Facebook to show you the way. To update you. Not the best move especially in this Zuckerberg-thinks-he’s-king age.

I can guarantee you that if you just depend on Facebook, you will miss a ton. You know we don’t just do strollers here at Baby Gizmo so you’d hate to miss a vacation giveaway or a huge shopping gift card giveaway or information on a product that could change your life make your life easier!

So here’s the thing: I need you to connect in other ways with us besides just Facebook. Most of you do, and again, I thank you for that from the bottom of my heart! Subscribe to our newsletter. Come to our website. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Follow us on Instagram.

Make it a point to take 2 minutes in the morning and come to our home – our website! We publish new content every day! Some days the articles, giveaways and videos might not interest you (that hardly ever happens, right?!?) but it only takes a second to check. We love when you come visit and we hope you’ll continue to do it more often. We’re friends and NOT just Facebook friends! We want you here! We do this for YOU!

To wrap this up, let’s stop complaining about Facebook and just change how we do things! Let’s visit our friend’s “homes”!

Quick ways to stay in touch with Baby Gizmo:

#1. Our website. Here. Everyday.

#2. Subscribe to our newsletter.

#3. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You know you don’t want to miss those videos!

#4. Follow us on Instagram. This is a tricky one because it is another “vacation home” owned by someone else but it’s kind of fun to visit there now.

Knowing that we aren’t going to walk away from Facebook, do me a favor and make sure you have clicked on the “get notifications” drop down on our Facebook page under “liked.” We hear that it is highly effective to get the actual status updates in your feed of sites you like! Go to: http://www.facebook.com/babygizmo –> click on the “LIKED” box to get a drop down to show up –> make sure you click and put a check mark next to “Get Notifications.” See the graphic below. Thank you!