Is it common...

for photographers in your area to buy "likes" on social media, specifically Facebook? I've noticed that recently, in my area anyhow, that there are a number of photogs that don't have many photos posted, very rarely post anything but have thousands of likes. One photographer has 5 posts in all of 2014 so far and in the span of 4 days in February they got 2500 likes. Another photographer recently joined Facebook and only has one post. In one hour they have well over 500 likes.

I'm not complaining or anything, it's more of an observation and curiosity to see if this is a common thing everywhere.

Facebook "boost"? How does that even work?

FarmerTed1971 wrote in post #16763974
Facebook "boost"? How does that even work?

From what I have read it seems that you pay someone and in turn will have likes arrive from all over the world. Seems silly and a waste of money, as well as, being unethical and against Facebook TOS.

this video will answer all your questions http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag

bespoke wrote in post #16763989
this video will answer all your questions http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag

Very interesting. Seems like a huge waste of time and money overall.

the flying moose wrote in post #16764032
Very interesting. Seems like a huge waste of time and money overall.

Exactly - seems that even if you don't buy like (but pay for an advert/boost) you get hundreds of fake profiles liking you and using up your ad revenue. The engagement figures are shocking. It is a hopeless advertising medium.

What do "likes" do for a business that they would do all this for? Whats the benefit?? I don't use Facebook that much and probably wouldn't use it much if I had a business either.

bespoke wrote in post #16763989
this video will answer all your questions http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag

Thanks for that link, this drove home to NEVER pay for advertising on Facebook!!

Fake likes do nothing.
Real, organic likes can get your name and your work in front of your target client - *IF* your target client is a Facebook user.

Facebook user engagement is a snowball effect - the more engagement you have, the more you get. But if all your engagement is from fake profiles, none of them are buying what you're showing.

I'm not advising anyone who cares about their social media strategy to buy likes (from Facebook or Otherwise) however I think people buy them because photographers with more likes seem more likely to win business. I only suggest this because I was asked by two different potential clients about why I had so few likes. One lady told me it was very concerning for her.

1000WordsPhotography wrote in post #16767444
I'm not advising anyone who cares about their social media strategy to buy likes (from Facebook or Otherwise) however I think people buy them because photographers with more likes seem more likely to win business. I only suggest this because I was asked by two different potential clients about why I had so few likes. One lady told me it was very concerning for her.

See I wouldn't even care about likes when picking a photographer. I would look at the quality of work, even more so now that I know how easy it is to buy those likes.

the flying moose wrote in post #16767556
See I wouldn't even care about likes when picking a photographer. I would look at the quality of work, even more so now that I know how easy it is to buy those likes.

but your view is skewed as you are a photographer. Likes, followers, retweets, reblogs, retumbles (is that the proper term?), etc all seem to matter to a lot of people. Popularity seems to be the same as good now a days. Obviously its ridiculous, but it is the current online world we live in. I guess its not too much different from when newspapers and magazines used to tout their circulation numbers or TV stations brag about their viewership. its that "others are looking and liking, maybe I should be too" attitude. Quantity over quality thought process. Its the energy behind the "if we get to 1000 likes, we will give everyone a high five" crap you see all the time on FB.

peeaanuut wrote in post #16767576
but your view is skewed as you are a photographer. Likes, followers, retweets, reblogs, retumbles (is that the proper term?), etc all seem to matter to a lot of people. Popularity seems to be the same as good now a days. Obviously its ridiculous, but it is the current online world we live in. I guess its not too much different from when newspapers and magazines used to tout their circulation numbers or TV stations brag about their viewership. its that "others are looking and liking, maybe I should be too" attitude. Quantity over quality thought process. Its the energy behind the "if we get to 1000 likes, we will give everyone a high five" crap you see all the time on FB.

Maybe, but I have never been active on social media so I think likes mean nothing to me in general. I only joined Facebook last summer. I check Instagram every couple of days. I have a handful of tweets on Twitter in nearly 2 years.

To expand on this particular part of the topic, I remember not too many years ago, you could easily get free subscriptions to magazines because as mentioned here, those magazines were using the fact that you "subscribed" even for free to their advertisers which is what they based their ad rates on. I think more people have learned about this and consequently it is not as often that you can find free subscriptions to magazines because they now have to get some of their income from actual subscriptions.
The video previously posted is exactly why Facebook has a horrible marketing program. You can buy non organic likes and it will mean absolutely nothing. I would rather have my friends share my information with their friends, if they choose to do so, in order to get my product in front of people who are more likely to actually want something I have to offer.

peeaanuut wrote in post #16767576
but your view is skewed as you are a photographer. Likes, followers, retweets, reblogs, retumbles (is that the proper term?), etc all seem to matter to a lot of people. Popularity seems to be the same as good now a days. Obviously its ridiculous, but it is the current online world we live in. I guess its not too much different from when newspapers and magazines used to tout their circulation numbers or TV stations brag about their viewership. its that "others are looking and liking, maybe I should be too" attitude. Quantity over quality thought process. Its the energy behind the "if we get to 1000 likes, we will give everyone a high five" crap you see all the time on FB.

Common, who knows. Stupid? Definitely.