You know these Facebook posts.  The ones that profess love for your family, or that your son or daughter is the most wonderful in the land, or you will be friends for eternity and if you agree you should share (or Like)!  Just this morning I have 15 in my Facebook feed.  Seriously 15!  And, on top of that they were one right after the other.

So why do they drive me crazy?  Here’s 5 reasons why:

5.  Can you say SCAM?

First and foremost I have to say that sharing a post, or liking a post, is not going to make you rich, have your luck change over night, or make someone fall in love with you.  Of course I am referring to the posts that claim if you share (or Like) it, something miraculous will happen within a set period of time.

4.  Exploitation

People who set these up such posts are often praying on someone’s insecurities or fears.  Think about the posts that show sick children or accidents.  Think about the ones that say “share if you hate [insert disease], ignore if you don’t.  Really?  By ignoring said post I like a disease?

3.  Pollution

Yes, I am calling if Facebook pollution.  It is polluting my Facebook newsfeed and taking away from the things that I want to see.  Real updates from people that I care about.

2.  Social Proof or Herd Instinct

A formal and proven psychological phenomenon, as discussed in depth by Dr. Robert Cialdini, demonstrates that people are influenced by their friends and also the number of people (the herd)  who are involved in an act.  So, if you see that 100,000+ people, some of which are your friends, have shared a Facebook post you feel that you must do it as well.  You want to be a part of the herd.

1.  You Are Making Someone Else Money and You Don’t Realize It!

This is the number one reason for me.  People are playing on all the reasons stated above to make money off of people who don’t realize it.

When someone creates these posts they have a very deliberate motive:  to make money. I am not talking about the companies who create Facebook Contests in order to get you to share or like their page in exchange for the opportunity to win something.  This is legitimate and the business is being up front with you.

I am talking about the people who want to do this without being up front.  What they are doing is working with Facebook’s algorithm .  By getting more likes, shares and comments it is improving someone’s ranking in the algorithm (some used to call this the EdgeRank) and therefore this means that the better the ranking the more it will show up in other people’s newsfeed.  So, what does this have to do with the price of tea in China?  Everything.  Once the original page hits a certain threshold, the owner can sell the page to another party.  Because it is so popular, it has a better price tag.  The new owner can then update some information and have a ready made community to spam, I mean share information with.  Yup, that is what it is all about.  Dollars.

So, if you agree with this post “Like” and “Share”.  If you don’t, just ignore.