Facebook Page Admins to Witness a Drop in ‘Likes’ from March 12

In an attempt to make Page likes more ‘meaningful’, Facebook is changing the way the likes are counted. The immediate effect of this practice will mean that Page owners can expect to see a minor drop in the Page ‘like’ counts on their respective Pages.

To be more specific, Facebook is removing the likes from Pages which come from memorialized or voluntarily deactivated accounts. So far the likes from such accounts were considered against the total like count of a Page, but not for long. Only recently, Facebook provided the option to add a legacy contact who will control an account in case the original owner expires, and, for instance, the likes coming from such accounts will not count any more.

“This change ensures that data on Facebook is consistent and up-to-date,” reads the official announcement on Facebook for Business news post.

The removal of such likes will begin from March 12, and will continue for a few upcoming weeks. Facebook cites the reasons such as up-to-date business insights, and consistency, as the benefits that Businesses on Facebook will be able to enjoy as a result of the implementation of this practice. Page owners will be able to get a clearer and more accurate picture of their audience this way, Facebook maintains.

The immediate impact of the implementation of this system will be a small dip in the total like counts of Pages. Larger the amount of likes on a page, more significant the drop is likely to be. Similarly, if an account is temporarily deactivated or memorialized in the future, their Page like, post likes and comments will be filtered out from the Page’s total likes and activity.

If a user decides to activate their account at a later date, the account will again be added to the Page’s total like count.

Also read: “Call me crazy, but I don’t really care what happens to my Facebook profile after I die.”

“Everyone benefits from meaningful information on Facebook,” says the company. “It’s our hope that this update makes Pages even more valuable for businesses.”

—Courtesy: VentureBeat