Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: My theatre has a facebook page???

This is topic My theatre has a facebook page??? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=007553

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 11-07-2017, 02:54 PM:

I occasionally run my theatre name through google just to see what comes up, and I just discovered this. I don't think I'm really happy about it:

Melville Theater

If you hover over a button near the top, it does say this: "This unofficial Page was created because people on Facebook have shown interest in this place or business. It's not affiliated with or endorsed by anyone associated with Melville Theater." They don't go out of their way to make that extraordinarily obvious, though.

I've never signed up for or used facebook for anything at all, not under my own name or my business's name or anything else. And I'm certainly not going to reward facebook by claiming it or activating it or doing whatever they want me to do to get access to that account since it's nothing that I created and I never asked for it and don't want it. Again, the first I've heard of this was when it just now popped up in a google search.

All of my legitimate contacts and advertising is done through my own domain name, not anyone else's and certainly not through facebook.

I guess my best approach to this will be to simply ignore it. I wonder how long that's been there, though....

I've always put facebook into the "evil company that preys on stupid people" category. This confirms my impression, and it definitely doubles down on the evil part.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-07-2017, 03:03 PM:

Facebook is an evil company and relies on stupid people to share their most intimate secrets.

Today they even started a new service, which is supposed to protect you against "revenge porn", by prematurely uploading nude pictures of yourself to them...

But yes, Facebook automatically creates a "business page" about you, as do many others. Google will also automatically create a profile about your place.

The best thing you can do is to claim it. If you do not want to use it, simply don't put anything up there. Still, by claiming it, you avoid someone else claiming it and doing potentially more harm.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 11-07-2017, 04:02 PM:

The problem with claiming it is that people would then, reasonably, expect to be able to contact and interact with me through it.

As it is, I'm not difficult to contact. Customers can talk to me in person, send me an email, fill out the contact form on my webpage or phone me. (In fact, the phone number that I advertise as "office" is actually my cell phone number.)

If I claim it and then ignore it, folks would legitimately feel aggrieved if they asked me a question through facebook and never received a reply. Not to mention that I would be rewarding facebook for what I think is unethical behaviour on their part since they would then become a middleman between me and my customers (which is of course exactly the position they want to be in).

As it is, I can honestly say that the facebook page that has my business name on it was created without my knowledge or permission and has absolutely nothing to do with me. I don't have a facebook account and couldn't post anything on that page if I wanted to.

Posted by James Wyrembelski (Member # 9037) on 11-07-2017, 04:38 PM:

Yes, this is common on Facebook. I believe it's generated by people searching for your business, if there is enough interest a page is auto generated.

When I took over our theatre, I noticed there were 3 pages for the Beaverton Gem Theatre. One was the official one, and two I have no idea where they came from but were listed as being in the next town over on some side road in the middle of nowhere. It even had reviews. Luckily, I had the ability to have those taken down by flagging them as not being the official page. Essentially they were "merged" into mine. But, it was strange to me that there were others being made since this theatre has had a Facebook for about 10 years now.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-07-2017, 04:46 PM:

I guess those other two pages where created due to some mismatches in the stuff they just crawled off the web. I've also seen business listed both on Facebook and Google with wrong addresses and wrong contact information. I guess it's a combination of wrong user input and wrong data acquisition by crawling the web for this kind of information.

quote: Frank Cox
As it is, I can honestly say that the facebook page that has my business name on it was created without my knowledge or permission and has absolutely nothing to do with me. I don't have a facebook account and couldn't post anything on that page if I wanted to.

I do understand your point, but the problem often is that people don't really seem to understand the difference. They'll most likely post on that page anyway.

It's a nasty trick of Facebook to lure you into their "ecosystem". Then again, it's getting harder to ignore them every day...

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 11-07-2017, 04:47 PM:

A few years ago I had to jump through some hoops with Google to get my theatre properly located on their map. I already had a gmail account and an "android developer account" (that are actually the same thing under the hood, I think) but there was some extra hoop-jumping required at that time because google conveniently located my theatre about a mile away from where it actually is on their map. This was inconveniencing some customers since they apparently followed the prompts on the map and ended up somewhere on the highway out of town.

After receiving a few complaints I spent a couple of days finding out how to move that location and now it's in the right spot, I think. It was the last time I checked, anyway.

Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 11-08-2017, 10:35 AM:

Slightly different, we have someone here in Ontario that has put up pages for most of the drive-ins here as part of their "Starlite Drive-In" page. From time to time, we'll have a complaint that the "wrong movies" or pricing is listed on "our page" and I've contacted them a couple times asking they take it down. (It has some garbage ads, etc.) Their response was that "you are open source and we can list you" (as a service to the travelling drive-in public, whatever that is). They sent links of various other (much more professional) sites that list movies, none of which we provide info to but seem to mostly be up to date. Really not sure what these people get out of it, it's annoying though.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 11-08-2017, 11:08 AM:

I say that you should just claim it to prevent others from stealing it and pretending to be you.

Simply put up a "This is Who We Are and This is What We Do" kind of page with nothing but your name, phone number and address. Maybe you could include a link to your real website if that is allowed.

After that, all you have to do is go back to the page every so often to be sure that nobody is trolling your Facebook page, or anything like that.

I'm with you guys: Facebook is only for the stupidest of the stupid people.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-08-2017, 03:53 PM:

quote: James Wyrembelski
Yes, this is common on Facebook. I believe it's generated by people searching for your business, if there is enough interest a page is auto generated.

Google does some of the same kinds of things. Also, there is little if anything to prevent third parties (customers, fans, cyber-squatters) from generating a page representing your business on Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.

At least in the case of Google they're fairly responsive and will give you control of your business' Google page once you verify who you are. It's a little more tricky with Facebook. I have a female friend who doesn't use Facebook much, but her ex-boyfriend has user account control of a page in her name with her images, etc. She just wants the page deleted, but Facebook has yet to do so.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 11-08-2017, 04:38 PM:

quote: Dave Bird
Really not sure what these people get out of it, it's annoying though.

I suspect that they sell some sort of advertising on their website and rely on the movie information to drive the traffic.

I've had some people here off-and-on complaining that they drove X miles to see a movie that I'm not playing because some website I've never heard of says that it's playing here. I just tell them that the only website that I control is my own and thus the only authoritative place to get movie information for here is my website.

Most of those third-party website seem to be relatively accurate most of the time. A few of them have subscribed to my weekly email mailing list so they get an accurate copy of my schedule that way.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 11-08-2017, 06:15 PM:

Frank
The link comes up as broken when I try to view it. However, I did discover there is another Melville Theatre in Australia. It appears to be a performing art theatre.
Melville Theatre Austrailia

The problem with people spoofing your business is one of the reasons I always suggest people have their own web site and Facebook page. It allows you to control your message rather than someone else.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-08-2017, 06:35 PM:

I'm fairly surprised Frank that you don't want to claim that page and use it. It's free advertising. I put up a picture of our one-sheet and a link to our showtimes about once a week, takes a grand total of about 30 seconds.

Sometimes you'll get people raving about how wonderful a movie is and that'll help business.

You can also get "reviews" about how wonderful your theater is and THAT will also help business. (Right now we have 132 reviews and a 4.8 out of 5 star rating.)

You can also add a "shop now" button to direct people to your website (if you sell tickets that way, for example).

And best of all, you can use it to instantly communicate if you have a last minute schedule change due to an equipment problem. We had to cancel a show due to some issue a few months ago...I put a note on Facebook and asked people to share it, and within about an hour it had been seen by over 3,000 people.

Posted by James Falloon (Member # 1933) on 11-09-2017, 06:05 AM:

Frank your topic reminded me of the deep nervousness I have for Facebook and your post has prompted me to do some internal soul searching.
Over the last few days I've had a think about why I had a general uneasiness for Facebook and come to the conclusion that I didn't like it because I simply didn't understand how it 'worked'.

I came from a similar background - single screen in a town of less than 5000. I inherited the cinema's Facebook page when I took over managing the theatre. I considered the Facebook page a necessary evil, and making posts a chore, just another thing to do. I didn't understand why posting the weekly flyer would get 200 views, and putting a lot of effort into a post would fall completely flat, but then doing no work and clicking 'share' would take off. It never made sense to me.

But after mulling it over for a few days, I think I've come up with a rudimentary understanding; Facebook is not specifically evil, or out to steal your customers, it is ultimately in the same business we are - amusement!

With that in mind, I would encourage you to claim the Facebook page, and just start off by posting your weekly schedule/session times each week. If you do your session times as a flyer or one-sheet convert it to an image and upload it as a picture. It is good free advertising, you don't have to pay for it if you don't want too - I never did. Pro-tip: if you run an ad in the local newspaper see if they will allow you to upload the proof - ask them nicely.

I'd just like to say if I were to berate your website and lack of Facebook presence and call you a Luddite, you'd just get your back up and ignore me. I don't think that you're a Luddite at all, I think you understand technology, you can make a website and run a digital projector, even run a whole cinema, but like me, fail to understand how Facebook works. But I'm sure having a Facebook presence and a zippy website helps, we have to fight for every customer. We've just had the worst year in 25 years or something and we need every customer we can get; yes it's hard work, but Facebook and having a snazzy website helps; two more tool in our toolbox of persuasion. I'm sure it helps to get the bums on seats that we so desperately need right now.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 11-09-2017, 03:22 PM:

I work at what is arguably one of the most technically advanced screening
rooms on the planet at the moment. So I'm far from a Luddite.

- - but I don't have a Facebook page and refuse to get one.

The reason goes back to the early 2000's when one day the hi-tech company
I was working for laid off several thousand people. I managed to hold on to
my job, though.

A few weeks later I bumped into one of my laid-off buddies who told me
that he'd gone to work for this (then new) company called "Facebook"

I mentioned that I'd been reading about it and was intending to sign up for it.
(Remember- - back then "MySpace" was the big social networking platform,
although I don't even think the phrase "social networking" was in wide use yet)

As soon as I mentioned my intention, he raised his voice to say "DON'T DO IT!"
When I asked why,he stopped just short of saying they were an "evil" company.
I clearly remembering him saying something like "It's not what everybody thinks
it is. It's far darker". It's almost as if he'd been sucked into some cult and was
afraid to reveal their inner sanctum secrets.
(Think: "Scientology")
- - and he refused to tell me anything more, and seemed afraid to do so.

I had never known my buddy to be paranoid or prone to wild government or
corporate conspiracy theories & rumors. I thought his statement was a bit odd
and out of character; but just the same, I put off getting a Facebook account.

I didn't think too much of it, until about a month later I bumped into another former
co-worker who'd gotten a job at Facbook, AND EXACTLY THE SAME THING HAPPENED.

So- - I've never signed up for Facebook, a decision I've never regretted.

As for my two buddies; they've both since disappeared.
(I'm not saying something sinister has happened to them; I just can no longer
find them. Maybe because I'm not on Facebook?)

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 11-09-2017, 04:42 PM:

quote: James Falloon
Over the last few days I've had a think about why I had a general uneasiness for Facebook and come to the conclusion that I didn't like it because I simply didn't understand how it 'worked'.

I understand how it works and that is the very reason I don't like Facebook.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-09-2017, 05:25 PM:

quote: Jim Cassedy
When I asked why,he stopped just short of saying they were an "evil" company.
I clearly remembering him saying something like "It's not what everybody thinks
it is. It's far darker". It's almost as if he'd been sucked into some cult and was
afraid to reveal their inner sanctum secrets.
(Think: "Scientology")
- - and he refused to tell me anything more, and seemed afraid to do so.

Um, that guy must work for the media...tells you just enough to scare you, without telling you the full truth behind the story.

Considering Facebook has about 2 billion users, it seems like their biggest evildoing is targeting their advertising. Although, catapulting Mark Zuckerberg to the status of "potential presidential candidate" might qualify as evil, I don't know.

But if they were really about anything "sinister" (outside of marketing and selling their user data, which every search or social site does) I'd think it would have come out by now.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 11-09-2017, 07:59 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
But if they were really about anything "sinister" (outside of marketing and selling their user data, which every search or social site does) I'd think it would have come out by now.

I think the 'evil' many are starting to be concerned about is that Facebook is 'listening' to your conversations for the sake of better targeting advertisements. I have seen some things that suggest it may use the microphone on your device to listen for key works which can be used to target advertising.

While that is certainly possible, it seems much more likely to me that tracking cookies and key words from the things we post and interact with are being used to target ads.

Although I am bothered by ads, I came to the conclusion a long time ago that it's just the price of using the internet. I do use an adblocker, but I'm noticing more and more sites are sniffing for these and won't show you content unless you disable the adblocker.

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 7758) on 11-09-2017, 10:09 PM:

Agreed. Think it goes deeper, though; I'm a Facebook user because I have so many friends and family scattered all over the country. With some judicious choices about what I will and won't do with it, I've found it tremendously useful.

Sinister? Very possibly. They do everything they can to be "active" in your life whether or not you're at a computer. Smartphone apps, messenger, notifications in the corner of your browser even when you're not on the site... all of this and more points to their largest goal: addiction. If they can make you the star of your own reality "show," and make it so you can't wait 5 seconds to see who "liked" your latest selfie, then it redefines life as we know it. I refuse. It's a tool, not a way of life.

With many people, addiction has been achieved with ease.

When I want to know about businesses, I use Yelp, by the way, but if I had a business, I'd be using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and a direct website because that's pretty much how the under-30 crowd learns about everything.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 11-09-2017, 10:19 PM:

The problem with Yelp is it only tells you what other people think of the business. Unless you are very active regarding your own business, you don't really get to control the message. Plus, in many cases the Yelp reviews come from people who had a bad experience.

My company has had unique domains for each theatre for nearly 20 years. By actively managing meta data we have made sure we are the top result for virtually all search strings related to our business. About the only thing that comes before us is Google's own theatre listings.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 11-10-2017, 05:11 AM:

Perfect match:

https://www.axios.com/sean-parker-unloads-on-facebook-2508036343.html

-----
Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, gave me a candid insider's look at how social networks purposely hook and potentially hurt our brains.

Be smart: Parker's I-was-there account provides priceless perspective in the rising debate about the power and effects of the social networks, which now have scale and reach unknown in human history. He's worried enough that he's sounding the alarm.

Parker, 38, now founder and chair of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, spoke yesterday at an Axios event at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, about accelerating cancer innovation. In the green room, Parker mentioned that he has become "something of a conscientious objector" on social media.

By the time he left the stage, he jokingly said Mark Zuckerberg will probably block his account after reading this:

"When Facebook was getting going, I had these people who would come up to me and they would say, 'I'm not on social media.' And I would say, 'OK. You know, you will be.' And then they would say, 'No, no, no. I value my real-life interactions. I value the moment. I value presence. I value intimacy.' And I would say, ... 'We'll get you eventually.'"
"I don't know if I really understood the consequences of what I was saying, because [of] the unintended consequences of a network when it grows to a billion or 2 billion people and ... it literally changes your relationship with society, with each other ... It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains."
"The thought process that went into building these applications, Facebook being the first of them, ... was all about: 'How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?'"
"And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while, because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever. And that's going to get you to contribute more content, and that's going to get you ... more likes and comments."
"It's a social-validation feedback loop ... exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you're exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology."
"The inventors, creators — it's me, it's Mark [Zuckerberg], it's Kevin Systrom on Instagram, it's all of these people — understood this consciously. And we did it anyway."
P.S. Parker, on life science allowing us to "live much longer, more productive lives": "Because I'm a billionaire, I'm going to have access to better health care so ... I'm going to be like 160 and I'm going to be part of this, like, class of immortal overlords. [Laughter] Because, you know the [Warren Buffett] expression about compound interest. ... [G]ive us billionaires an extra hundred years and you'll know what ... wealth disparity looks like."

----

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-10-2017, 09:51 AM:

Earlier today Good Morning America ran a piece about Sean Parker's new stance on Facebook, that people are helplessly becoming addicted to it.

My own 2¢: it's not Facebook's fault someone gets "addicted" to that social media outlet, or more generally his/her computer, phone, tablet or whatever. It's 100% that person's fault. Despite what Sean Parker tries to imply, this stuff is not heroin. It doesn't physically alter the body's chemistry. No one is sweating bullets, hyperventilating and suffering chest pain by stepping away from it for a few hours, days or forever.

The same complaints can be made about any social media outlet or other forums where people share thoughts, opinions and interact digitally.

The media hops on Sean Parker's thing because it gives the media the same old opportunity to tell people there's a scapegoat, someone to blame for something negatively affecting their lives, regardless of the truth that about 99% of the time it's that end user's fault.

I'll say it does feel a little creepy that Facebook's servers look at what people write and target ad sales based on it. Guess what? Every web search engine and social media outlet does that too. Most places on the web will sell-out your text entries for ad-driven search.

Anyone using Facebook should absolutely be careful about the personal information they put in their profile and be very careful about their comments. People make themselves easy targets for ID theft and scams by posting too much personal info. People have been losing their jobs and relationships by stupid, inflammatory things they post. But these warnings are true for all web sites, not just Facebook.

The real problem is far too many people are not street smart in the use of their digital devices.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-10-2017, 11:25 AM:

quote: Bobby Henderson
The same complaints can be made about any social media outlet or other forums where people share thoughts, opinions and interact digitally.

Heck there was a time when checking Film-Tech was the most important part of my day, multiple times a day. Since projection isn't as interesting these days, I don't check it quite as often but I still pop in here at least a couple times a day. I've probably written more words on this site than I have any other single place, digital or not. But am I "addicted" to Film-Tech? I would call it more a habit than anything. There are days I don't get a chance to check in, and I don't find myself crawling up the walls because of it.

Facebook is the same...it fills some of those spare moments when I'd otherwise be doing some drudgery.

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 7758) on 11-10-2017, 03:45 PM:

I'm glad you guys are already on to this Sean Parker interview.

Mike, I show up here regularly because it's very interesting to me. Yes, FB is good if used the same way.

The problem is, and this is the single point where I disagree with Bobby, there IS a physiological side to this, and Parker even mentions it - the addictive phenomenon of raising dopamine levels. Highly addictive. Combine that with pride, insecurity, and the general quest to keep ahead of the Joneses ('cause everyone else looks better on FB than we do), and you have a life-altering situation for those susceptible to this.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-10-2017, 04:16 PM:

If someone goes and gets addicted to hard drugs like heroin, popping pills, drinking alcohol or even just smoking cigarettes just about all of us will figure it's that person's fault for getting hooked. All of us know better when it comes to those substances, all of which are physically addictive (some considerably worse than others). Some of us will sympathize for those who are addicted, but nevertheless the personal responsibility thing does come into play.

The thing this Sean Parker news story is trying to do is tell millions of compulsive Facebook users it's not their fault. We can blame (and maybe even sue) the people running the company.

We all do silly, selfish and even downright stupid things that get us off the right track. Spending too much time on Facebook, other social media sites or even 'blogs like Film Tech is just one example. I'm trying to get in better shape. If I skip going to the gym it's my own fault I did that. I can't sue the Frito-Lay company if a bag of Taco-Flavored Doritos™ seduces its way into my grocery cart.

We get little hits of dopamine and other endorphins from all sorts of activity. It's actually a fallacy for anyone to suggest a person can get addicted to endorphins that naturally occur in the human body via normal activity. They don't work like that. It's when other chemicals (like hard drugs) are introduced into the body and overdrive the opiate receptors in the brain that physical addiction can take place. Compulsive behaviors and even some forms of mental illness can be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain.

Posted by James Wyrembelski (Member # 9037) on 11-10-2017, 05:36 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I put a note on Facebook and asked people to share it, and within about an hour it had been seen by over 3,000 people.

I was going to say that FB has quite the advertising potential for the cost of nothing, and I'm glad you brought it up. My first ever post announcing new ownership and a complete overhaul of the theater garnered about 19,000 hits. That's pretty nice advertising that cost me 0 dollars, and not too bad considering the county has about 25,000 residents. The immediate response you can get for the cost of nothing is invaluable.

But, I agree with the sentiment to use Facebook with caution and discretion.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 11-10-2017, 11:53 PM:

I get something of value from Google.

I can ask any question and get an answer in seconds. I can type in a street address, virtually, anywhere in the developed world, and see a picture of the location. Google will also tell me how to get there. There are all kinds of services and apps that Google gives away for free.

All I get from Facebook is one thing. A website where I can talk to people and look at pictures. Most of those people are people I don't want to talk to. Almost all of those pictures are stupid and I don't want to look at them. Who wants to see pictures of other people's snot-nosed kids and their stupid cats?

There is nothing that Facebook offers that I can't get any place else and without giving a pound of flesh.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-11-2017, 04:41 PM:

Not everyone feels the same about about Facebook, or even Google for that matter. There are obvious things I do find valuable about Facebook.

Facebook has been, by a very wide margin, the most effective online tool for finding and re-connecting with old friends. I grew up as a Marine Corps brat living on various Marine Corps and Navy bases. Through various moves from one duty station to another I lost touch with many good friends. When you grow up not having roots put down anywhere those old lost friendships become a little more important. In the 2000's I tried using Friendster and then MySpace to find friends I had during childhood, high school and college. I found only a handful of people with those services. I found dozens of old friends I hadn't seen in 20 or more years quickly within days of getting on Facebook. Many old classmates have used Facebook to organize class reunions -something which would have been impossible for military brats to do otherwise.

As James and Mike pointed out, Facebook is a pretty effective advertising tool for a local business. You can get the word out about an event, special offer, etc. effectively for free. Boosting a post is pretty cheap, especially when you compare what it costs to advertise on TV and radio.

I'll often find out about some breaking news story first on Facebook, via a friend posting the story on his page or other community page. Our small city's political scene is very much plugged into Facebook. My neighborhood has an active neighborhood watch page on Facebook. Members will post photos and security cam video of weirdos walking the streets looking for houses to burglarize or stealing packages off door steps. They'll post images of pets that have gotten loose.

There is plenty of annoying content on Facebook, especially these days with all the political partisan insanity polluting the air like a necrotic fart. But Facebook users do have control over what kinds of crap appear in their news feeds. You can hide posts from particularly annoying users without un-friending them. It's just as easy to just keep scrolling, just keep scrolling if you see something you don't like.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-11-2017, 05:32 PM:

The "finding old friends" angle of Facebook is sort of weird for me... I've found dozens of old friends, but after the initial (sometimes) shock of seeing what they look like today and the perfunctory how-ya-doings, I've yet to have any ongoing deep conversations with old friends. I don't know if that's my fault or theirs. All the friends I really converse with, we've either stayed connected thru other means, or sometimes they're not on Facebook anyway.

Mainly I read it for pass-the-time entertainment when I'm waiting for a movie to end at the theatre, or waiting at a railroad crossing or in line at the bank, that kind of thing. If it disappeared tomorrow, it'd be an adjustment for sure, but life would go on.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 11-14-2017, 12:26 PM:

Of course, you could always contact Facebook and have them remove the page...

Facebook Copyright Violation Reporting Page

Facebook Imposter Account Reporting

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 11-14-2017, 10:56 PM:

Apparently not since that contact is for reporting imposters who set up accounts using someone else's identity. The account that I'm concerned about isn't a fake, as such. After doing a bit of google research, I think it was set up as a "places check-in", whatever the practical effect of that is.

And in order to report an account using those contacts you have to submit a bunch of personal information to facebook. Since that's the problem that I'm trying to solve, why would I want to give them even more information about my business; they have already managed to scrape and scam enough.

Having given the matter some thought, I've pretty much decided to simply ignore this thing. Not my webpage, not my problem. I've never yet dealt with facebook and don't plan to start any time soon.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-21-2017, 05:57 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
Heck there was a time when checking Film-Tech was the most important part of my day, multiple times a day. Since projection isn't as interesting these days, I don't check it quite as often but I still pop in here at least a couple times a day. I've probably written more words on this site than I have any other single place, digital or not. But am I "addicted" to Film-Tech? I would call it more a habit than anything. There are days I don't get a chance to check in, and I don't find myself crawling up the walls because of it.

Your interests are most likely, more profound, in depth and canalized than that of the average Facebook user. That's probably why you commit much time to a community you take a big interest in and see no much use spending the same amount of time and efforts on Facebook.

At the same time, this whole "social networking" thing has been proven to be addictive. And like it or not, a forum like this one is practically an implementation of a "social network", alas a more rudimentary version of it.

One of the reasons why it is so addictive is pretty simple to explain. If you post something on such a forum or "social network site" and somebody else reacts to it, it will give you a little adrenaline kick. The "size" of this kick depends in large parts on the type of reply you got. If it was, for example, a more negative reply, this little rush will motivate you to write up a reply. Those who it was directed too, will also receive their little dose and are likely to react.

It's this basic little, incentive driven system that drives a lot of the social networks out there. In many cases it's not that we really need it, but it's just like cigarettes, caffeine and alcohol, once you've become addicted to it, you want it, because your brain thinks it needs it.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 11-21-2017, 07:02 PM:

I don't think evil is quite the right word, but certainly an entity that is using people and manipulating their proclivities -- there's certainly something sinister about that. The FB machine is not in place as a non-profit, charitable organization; it is there like any other big, multi-billion dollar business to do one thing: make money. That's not necessarily evil, but much of how they make their money is hidden and opaque to the billion people they are making the money off of. Nothing about FB is transparent indeed it is presented as something neutral and only there for the benefit of the public. Fact is, they keep those billion people online by spending millions devising "hooks" based on very sophisticated physiological manipulation. That said, isn't that what advertising has always done?

I'd say the difference is, everyone knows when something is an advertisement; in print it is always identified as such and in broadcasting and even on the web, ads are clearly marked as such. We are conditioned to react to them differently than other content; we question ads differently and ascertain exactly what the ad is doing even when it is quite subtle. Facebook, on the other hand uses a myriad of little routines like quizzes and games and surveys and such to keep the user "involve." Much of it is purely deceptive.

The one time my nephew coaxed me into taking a "Personality Profile Test" on FB that purported to tell the participant what were their personality components. He played it and sent me the results and begged me to take it; I played it and noticed an interesting thing -- the questions were strongly skewed - "Choose one from the following" and then gave choices like: "1) would you enjoy brushing your dog or cat's hair" 2) You think its funny seeing a dog or cat tumble down a flight of stairs." Gee, I wonder what people will choose. The the results my nephew's and my tests were suspiciously very positive for both of us. The test's final "evaluation" spit out long and detailed personality info; we both evidently had glowing personalities -- we were quit attractive, fun, all-around great chaps. So of course that prompts you to go, test results in hand, sending that glowing personality profile of to everyone under the FB sun, coaxing THEM to take that fun test as well, all in the guise of it being "just for fun," while if you were honest, it is just a crass form of self-promotion. To convince my nephew that it was nothing more than a scam, I took it again, answering all the negative questions with the answers that were obviously planted to NOT be picked, and surprise, suprise, the resulting profile STILL found great things to say about me. Funny how it didn't pick up that I procrastinate way too much, that I am a notorious grouch in the mornings and the morning can last well into the afternoon. This great psychological test didn't catch any of those or my other fairly serious flaws. Point is, FB isn't telling anyone that this is a bogus test and designed solely to get you to stay there longer and then to to propagate this thing to each of the other billion so all stay hooked so they can be exposed to the other hooks planted on the pages that are displayed along the way. It is underhanded and deceptive. Evil? Close enough.

Problem for businesses is, if you DON'T have a FB presence, more and more that will be seen as that somehow you are not a "real" business. This has happened with websites. What do people assume if they search for your business on the web and you don't have a site? "How come?" is the question. "They must not exist" could be a conclusion you don't want the public to make. It would be akin to 30 years ago if you didn't have an ad, or at least your number listed in the yellow pages. And not only do you need a website for your business to be thought of as legitimate, it needs to be an impressive site as well (hence why designers can charge BIG BIG bucks).

Unfortunately, if you don't play this social effin media game, you are cutting your nose off to spite your face. As much as it smacks of cyber totalitarianism, there doesn't seem to be an easy way around it.

For awhile Google didn't allow you to take pictures down from your Google Business page that the public added. The business could only manage pictures that they themselves posted to their own page. I found this to be absurd. People where posting terrible pictures -- out of focus, underlit, and of stuff that was totally irrelevant to our business. The only solution was to post as many pictures as we could so as to push the pictures the public posted, so far down the page that they became irrelevant, but, problem is, they were still there. One restaurateur said someone posted a picture of a rat on a plate and he couldn't get it removed for a week. Google will take off something that you can flag as patently offensive, but only if you write to them, but that can take time, all the while people seeing these offensive images connected to your business -- SERIOUS damage. Happily I can report that just recently they change the business picture page so that the owner of the page can finally delete the images you don't want, but you better keep on top of it because anyone who wants can post any picture they want, relevant or not, flattering or even potentially seriously harmful to your business or not.