Facebook Takes Down 'Like

Facebook Takes Down 'Like-Baiting' Posts

By Julie S | Apr 12, 2014 08:35 AM EDT

Facebook announced that it will automatically remove 'like-baiting 'posts that spams the News Feeds of its users. It also plans to penalize pages and marketers that exercise this technique to lure users to their ad pages.

Facebook defines 'Like-baiting' as a post explicitly asking News Feed readers to like, comment, or share the post in order to get additional distribution beyond the normal count a post usually receives.

The social networking site has received numerous complaints about these posts because these are always seen on top of the News Feed as more people comment or like the posts.

The News Feed update will allow Facebook to detect spam stories and prevent them from being widely spread online. However, the social network reassured genuine pages that they will not be affected by these changes.

According to CNET, Facebook recently downplayed memes in the News Feed, which garnered criticisms from marketers claiming that their page update dramatically decreased since the clean-up.

A growing number of marketers expressed their dismay over the changes implemented by the social networking giant. Eat 24, a web and mobile-based food delivery company, has reportedly written a breakup letter stating the grievances of the marketers over Facebook's new rule.

However, Buzzfeed believes that the said changes implemented by the social networking site is a good move as it will make it more inviting for media companies that heavily rely on social media in terms of online content distribution. It also serves as the latest example of how Facebook exudes dominance over others who tried to alter their systems, which also implies that they are in full control of their own operations.

According to a Facebook blog post, like-baiting posts, on average, are 15 percent less relevant than other stories based on a survey conducted to random users and only makes the site less enjoyable since instead of seeing their friends' posts, they see spams.

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