Can consumer brands survive boycotting Facebook?
Bigger brands can afford to take their ad budgets elsewhere – less so with direct-to-consumer brands.
19 July, 2020
Shutterstock
- Over 500 companies, well-known consumer brands among them, have announced that they will not advertise on Facebook-owned media properties until the company curbs hate speech on its platform.
- Facebook is likely to sustain minimal damages at the hands of the #StopHateForProfit movement, because the lion's share of potential participants depend on the platform for business, and it isn't mutual.
- Even if all 100 of Facebook's top ad buyers were to suddenly freeze their campaigns and participate in the boycott, that would still only represent 6% of the platform's income.
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Amidst a global pandemic, a global civil rights movement has emerged on the heels of American protests against police violence.
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Americans are increasingly fed up with the country's deep cultural divisions, especially given how easily they can be exploited by nefarious players on social media. With brands so eager to broadcast their "virtue signals," aligning themselves (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mRtli7xGTY" target="_blank">however emptily</a>) with the cause of the day, the time has come for #StopHateForProfit, an initiative that encourages businesses to pull their advertising dollars from Facebook and other platforms that don't do enough to prevent hate speech.
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Civil rights groups including the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, and Color of Change launched the campaign in June, urging brands to boycott Facebook advertising until the social media giant makes some serious policy changes. As of mid-July, the exodus of major advertisers from Facebook continues to grow, as the company weathers criticism over its advertising measurement practices and handling of racist and <a href="https://bigthink.com/videos/social-media-censorship" target="_self">violent rhetoric on the platform</a>.
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Designed as a platform for user-generated content, Facebook and other social media channels assume only so much responsibility for managing what is posted and viewed by other users. When it comes to advertising, however, they have a financial interest in <a href="https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2019/02/22/google-youtube-brand-safety-next/" target="_blank">ensuring the "brand safety"</a> of the context in which ads appear.
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Facebook's danger as a tool for propaganda was called out during the 2016 elections, as <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/11/facebook-won-trump-election-not-just-fake-news/" target="_blank">millions of campaign dollars</a> were dedicated to fundraising for the Trump campaign on social media. <a href="https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/facebook-fined" target="_self">Accusations of manipulation</a> abounded, with Cambridge Analytica, Trump personally, his campaign team, and other allies leveraging social media towards victory.
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The recent outrage against fake news and hate groups running roughshod on Facebook isn't new, but this boycott is calling attention to Facebook's failure in implementing any real, effective changes to managing harmful content. The ADL, for example, points out numerous examples of <a href="https://www.adl.org/blog/hate-conspiracy-theories-and-advertising-on-facebook" target="_blank">hateful ads</a> and conspiracy theories appearing on Facebook despite the company's purported efforts to clean up shop.
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Who has joined? (And who hasn't?)
<p>Over <a href="https://www.stophateforprofit.org/participating-businesses" target="_blank">500 companies</a>, including LEGO, Adidas, Unilever, Dunkin, Walgreens, Patagonia, and Target have announced that they will not work with Facebook until the company takes action to address misinformation and hate speech on its platform. While this might sound impressive on the surface, a <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/01/tech/facebook-top-advertisers/index.html" target="_blank">CNN analysis</a> of Facebook's top advertisers found that the overwhelming majority of Facebook's 100 biggest ad spenders have yet to join the movement. Of the top 25 ad spenders, accounting for almost 3 percent of Facebook's revenue in 2019, only three have joined the boycott. These are Microsoft, Starbucks, and pharma giant Pfizer.</p><p>Of course, despite all the negative press and relatively high volume of companies joining the boycott, Facebook's ad revenues are still a juggernaut. Looking at data from the past few years, and projecting where things are headed, as a recent <a href="https://commonthreadco.com/blogs/coachs-corner/ecommerce-trends-future" target="_blank">direct-to-consumer e-commerce report</a> from Common Thread Collective points out, demand for paid media on the platform is unlikely to wane any time soon.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ4MTIzOC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTY2Njc2MX0.rHFBVmHo7hy3_Rw4-O1XbwOt-9W5a8h2JwT4sBGJVlE/img.png?width=980" id="e45c2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7d69a8e3c34f0892765c23537b2eec14" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Social media advertising infographic" /><p>And this is where things start to get tricky. According to CNN's analysis, it's smaller media buyers that make up the vast majority of Facebook's ad revenues in terms of dollars. Even if all 100 top spending brands on the list were to suddenly freeze their campaigns and participate in the boycott, that would <em>still</em> only effectively remove 6 percent of the ad platform's income.</p><p>What's more, because the ad platform works primarily on a pay-per-click model, which serves up promoted posts from the highest bidder, there's every reason to believe that the long tail of smaller ad buyers would provide enough demand to make up for this 6 percent loss. There's no indication that Facebook would run out of demand or slots to fill with monetized posts.</p><p>So if Mark Zuckerberg and company doesn't stand to lose much from the boycott, who does? </p>
The socially dependent long tail
<p>Sure, larger consumer brands are attracted to Facebook's audience targeting capabilities, massive reach, and measurable results. But for household names, running campaigns on Facebook is only one cog in a much larger machine.</p><p>Consider Levi Strauss, a classic consumer brand, as an example. They're participants in the #StopHateForProfit boycott, but this company advertises with any number of media types, including banner ads on content websites, TV spots, and posters in subway cars. What's more, their ad campaigns are generally more about branding than direct sales. </p><p>Levi's manages sales channels for both wholesale and retail e-commerce and distributes goods via scores of retail partners, and they have some 15,000 franchised Levi's stores. When a brand like this stops advertising on Facebook, their brand awareness and sales are unlikely to take a significant hit, largely due to the diversity of their promotional and sales channel mix.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ4MTIzOS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwOTc5NTg3OH0.JzBtcvRrzshzngBCzySXDd8b8z1QJ8hvJkJVtYEFGhI/img.png?width=980" id="fe74b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="68d1ad70321212e8799ffb0268b676d8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Levi Strauss annual advertising and promotion expenses 2015-2019" /><p>But for smaller companies whose entire livelihood depends on building a loyal audience and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2020-07-03/for-insta-brands-boycotting-facebook-advertising-is" target="_blank">driving direct sales through Facebook</a> and Instagram ads, the prospect of joining the boycott raises a dilemma.</p><p>Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands promote and sell their products directly to new customers, cutting out intermediate channels like marketplaces, middlemen, brick-and-mortar stores, and third-party retailers. Without retailers acting as middlemen, DTC brands are dependent on eye-catching branding and targeted advertising via social media platforms. </p><p>With DTC, the focus is on building brand affinity by appealing to consumers' emotions and values, so championing social justice can bolster sales. But at the same time, generating inbound traffic from social media channels is a major source of sales. </p><p>So while many consumers do prioritize a brand's ethical culture when making purchasing decisions, this may not be enough for DTC.</p><p>For a lot of DTC brands, Facebook is their entire sales funnel. These are the companies that are most likely to feel the most acute pain by withdrawing from Facebook ads. And these also happen to be among the companies most likely to have sustained lagging sales as a result of COVID-19 era economics.</p>
How big a deal is DTC?
<p>Overall, online sales continue to grow, with <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/379112/e-commerce-share-of-retail-sales-in-us/" target="_blank">nearly 14 percent</a> of U.S. total retail sales estimated to come from e-commerce channels by 2021.</p><p>While DTC brands occupy only <a href="https://www.emarketer.com/newsroom/index.php/us-direct-to-consumer-ecommerce-sales-will-rise-to-nearly-18-billion-in-2020/" target="_blank">2.6 percent of the U.S. e-commerce market</a>, this year will likely see a 24 percent increase, making these brands a force to be reckoned with. </p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ4MTI0MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDY5NDkxMn0.j2kH2J7gftDSpUR_VIM9Xq1lopn1IFYatFOw_HBJEe8/img.png?width=980" id="eb933" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="37a7ccfe3e43e31bb33d470e2f4f4cb9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="US D2C e-commerce sales chart" /><p>In the aforementioned report, Common Thread's Aaron Orendorff calls DTC "an approach to marketing and retention steeped in the value and feel of one-to-one relationships but no longer governed by manufacturing and distribution ownership." Indeed, focusing on relationships with consumers, without middlemen, is an effective marketing tool that resonates with many young consumers.</p><p>The value of DTC marketing is characterized by significant gains in traffic and lower costs of acquisition, as Brian Garofalow, VP of Marketing and Ecommerce at <a href="https://www.igloocoolers.com/" target="_blank">Igloo</a>, explains.</p><p>"In the last year, we were able to simultaneously increase traffic by 2.4x while lowering acquisition cost by over 20%," he told Common Thread. "The net result is operating a profitable business unit, having a closer relationship to consumers, understanding what triggers purchase behavior from which cohorts, and ...gaining insights that are incredibly valuable for new product development and leading indicators to wholesale customer sell-through." </p><p>According to analysts, as more VCs and institutions have begun to comprehend the value of the DTC model, more of <a href="https://blog.usejournal.com/d2c-by-the-numbers-breaking-down-the-hype-into-dollars-and-cents-d5d74e807494" target="_blank">these companies are landing venture funding</a> and acquisitions from traditional companies. However, this growth is being compromised by the pandemic, which makes VC funding harder to come by. It therefore also decreases the likelihood that any pure DTC brand will boycott Facebook.</p>
Facebook’s response
<p>It may seem like Facebook is too big of a force to be hurt by this situation. An estimated <a href="https://www.emarketer.com/content/uptick-us-adults-social-media-usage-will-likely-normalize-post-pandemic?ecid=NL1001" target="_blank">51 percent of U.S. adults</a> are using social media at higher rates during the pandemic, generating massive growth for Facebook, which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram.</p><p>Facebook collected more than <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/business/dealbook/facebook-boycott-ads.html#:~:text=A%20boycott%20of%20advertisers%20on,Who's%20doing%20what." target="_blank">$17 billion in advertising revenue</a> in the first quarter of 2020. Losing big brand ad spending is painful, but because the bulk of the company's ad revenues come from DTC brands and other smaller companies that rely heavily on the platform to drive direct e-commerce sales, it's unlikely that Zuckerberg will feel the need to make any meaningful changes.</p><p>Facebook said in a statement that they are taking steps to "keep hate off of our platform" and added, "We know we will be judged by our actions not by our words and are grateful to these groups and many others for their continued engagement."</p><p>Facebook is also rolling out modifications to curb the spread of misinformation and hate speech, but the groups spearheading the boycott movement don't think that this is enough.</p><p>"This isn't over. We will continue to expand the boycott until Facebook takes our demands seriously," Jessica J. González, the co-CEO of Free Press <a href="https://www.freepress.net/news/press-releases/stophateforprofit-sees-no-commitment-action-meeting-between-campaign-leaders" target="_blank">said in a statement</a>. "We won't be distracted by Facebook's spin today or any day. Mark, Sheryl and their colleagues have much work to do to make Facebook a better place for everyone, and they need to get it done now."</p><p>The problem, however, is arguably far harder to address than many of those protesting Facebook would acknowledge. The idea of user-generated content as a model for mass media was all well and good two decades ago, when it was fresh, but once it's been weaponized by foreign instigators, Boogaloo groups and neo-Nazis, you can't really put the cat back into the bag.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ4MTI0NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTE2MjY0MH0.xhprCCnsnhUdrD8yRkyY56Hf0FMw0w12XMfOgh98eXo/img.png?width=980" id="0eea5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aa9413c9e3a76e31f944d12f2c9d148a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Facebook "Content Actioned" chart" /><p>From January to April 2020, Facebook <a href="https://transparency.facebook.com/community-standards-enforcement#hate-speech" target="_blank">blocked 9.6 million</a> pieces of content, around 4 million more than the final quarter of 2019. The company is also initiating mechanisms to address hate speech, including flagging harmful content, ensuring accuracy of political content, and including politicians in community standards.</p><p>But as González says, these measures likely won't make too much of a dent.</p><p>Because its algorithms work by giving exposure to content that commands the most attention, Facebook is fundamentally a perfect platform for disinformation and hate, making any type of reformation almost impossible. It's just the nature of the user-generated content beast.</p>
Closing remarks
<p>Ultimately, Facebook knows that consumer brands need it more than it needs them. While the mounting pressure is forcing Facebook to expand its brand safety ad policies and take proactive steps to limit the spread of hate and harmful content, at the end of the day, the giant and its shareholders won't likely suffer a major blow to revenue. Managing and mitigating the Wild West of social media remains a dubious mission at best. </p>
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Facebook finally adds option to delete old posts in batches
Got any embarrassing old posts collecting dust on your profile? Facebook wants to help you delete them.
03 June, 2020
Facebook
- The feature is called Manage Activity, and it's currently available through mobile and Facebook Lite.
- Manage Activity lets users sort old content by filters like date and posts involving specific people.
- Some companies now use AI-powered background checking services that scrape social media profiles for problematic content.
<p>Facebook is rolling out a new feature designed to help users delete old posts in bulk instead of one at a time.</p><p>The company <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2020/06/introducing-manage-activity/" target="_blank">announced</a> Tuesday that its "Manage Activity" tool will allow users to delete posts en masse, or archive them so that they're accessible only to the user. Manage Activity will let users organize old content in batches, sorted by filers like specific date range and posts involving certain people. </p><p>Manage Activity is available today on mobile and Facebook Lite, and the company says it'll be functional for desktop users in the future.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Whether you're entering the job market after college or moving on from an old relationship, we know things change in people's lives, and we want to make it easy for you to curate your presence on Facebook to more accurately reflect who you are today," Facebook wrote in a statement. "That's why we're launching Manage Activity to help you archive or trash old posts, all in one place."</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM2OTEzNi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMjczNTg1MX0.4bI-oP-pjEb_F8Ocj4Zevv619Gm7eLbHgwh7YFMcECc/img.png?width=980" id="1dc98" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ad95bd3b9491e4104025e6ee3e3a2e4b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Facebook
<p>Why is Facebook releasing the feature now? A company spokesperson told <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/6/2/21276974/facebook-manage-activity" target="_blank">Recode</a> that users and privacy advocates have long requested better control over past posts. Users have had access to the "limit past posts" option, which blocks the public from accessing a user's posts past a certain date. But there has been no way to delete old content in batches.</p>
Social media background checks
<p><br></p><p>Now, the feature could bring users some peace of mind. After all, the platform currently has more than <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/#:~:text=How%20many%20users%20does%20Facebook,network%20ever%20to%20do%20so." target="_blank">2.6 billion monthly active users</a>, and some of these users created accounts in their teens, around the time Facebook became widely available in 2006. As these veteran users get older, it seems likely that many would want to delete years-old posts, whether because content is embarrassing, outdated or professionally jeopardizing.</p><p>Some employers now use automated or <a href="https://www.goodegg.io/blog/is-this-legal-and-other-social-media-screening-faqs" target="_blank">third-party background</a> checks that scrape candidates' social media accounts. These checks can search for content that's racist, sexually explicit, criminal or otherwise offensive. </p><p>But they're not always accurate. One AI-powered background service called <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/11/21166291/artificial-intelligence-ai-background-check-checkr-fama" target="_blank">Checkr has even faced lawsuits</a> from people who claim the company's algorithms made mistakes that cost them job opportunities.</p>How to use Manage Activity
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ffacebookapp%2Fvideos%2F707969696627907%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="353" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe><p>It's unclear when Manage Activity will become available on desktop. But to learn how to use it on mobile or Facebook Lite, check out this instructional video from Facebook.</p>
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Facebook moving forward with hiding like counts to fight envy
This could become a standard feature one day.
28 September, 2019
Photo credit: Boudewijn Huysmans on Unsplash
- Facebook has begun hiding 'like counts' in Australia.
- Earlier this month, a reverse engineer predicted that this would be the case.
- The new feature may help in reducing envy and other ill-fated social effects.
<p>Somehow the concepts of 'likes,' that little counter of online social interactions, gained far too much importance in the complex web of people's lives and psyches. The less fortunate among us tie their self worth to it. Large numbers of likes spike their self worth momentarily. It often leaves people envious of those with more likes and even causes depression in those with less likes. </p><p> It's an absurd phenomenon when you get down to the root of it. It's also unhealthy. </p><p>Which is why Facebook is officially rolling out its new feature to hide like counts on posts, with the first trial run occurring on September 27th in Australia. The post's author will be able to still see the count internally, which is still an important metric for business pages, but the total overall count will be hidden from everyone. During the trial, public users will not be able to see how many people liked the post — or see who liked the post. This is to help combat 'like-envy' and mitigate herd-like behavior online.<span></span></p>
Facebook hiding Likes
<p>Facebook hiding like counts was originally spotted by reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong. It was <a href="https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/facebook-remove-likes" target="_self">predicted earlier this month</a> that Facebook was going to begin publicly testing its hidden Like features sooner than later. The new tests will be running alongside Instagram's pilot hidden Like count initiative as well, whereas Instagram began first testing it in Canada before expanding to six further countries in July. </p> <p>A Facebook spokesperson recently told TechCrunch that, "We are running a limited test where like, reaction, and video view counts are made private across Facebook. We will gather feedback to understand whether this change will improve people's experiences." </p> <p>If the test shows positive results and improves user's sense of self worth, lack of envy and increased participation on the platform, this feature could spread around the world and even one day become a central feature of the application. So far now plans for that have been revealed or talked about. </p> <p>The company's similar test on Instagram is being led by a separate team. </p> <p>The tests have proven successful in keeping users engaged and liking on Instagram and many users have reported <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/22/20699316/instagram-like-hiding-update-feedback-data-countries" target="_blank">liking the hidden counts feature.</a></p> <p>Businesses and creators on instagram are still able to view the highly detailed metrics on their dashboards and they can still track the number of likes on their posted content.</p>Competition and envy online
<p>Facebook hopes that without the looming Like counts, people will be more apt to interact with one another and care less about how their popularity is perceived by others. It also may assist in getting rid of herd mentality and letting people interact freely with content that interests them for what it is, not just for how many likes it has.</p> <p>For those more competitive minded people, they'll still be able to see the totals on their own posts, but they won't be able to compare that with others. Although, that might help them out in the long run. </p> <p>If Facebook goes through with removing Like counts everywhere and it eventually becomes the standard, it could help mitigate the negative effects that social media has on many people's self esteem.</p>
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I invested in Facebook. By 2016, I couldn’t stay silent.
Why an early Facebook investor is now Facebook's biggest critic.
10 April, 2019
- Investor Roger McNamee joined Facebook as an early investor when the company was just two years old.
- In this video, he explains why he went from Facebook supporter to public critic, and why he came to write the book "Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe".
- The next billion dollars Facebook makes means nothing if it doesn't reform its practices, says McNamee.
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Slactivism: The problem with moral outrage on the internet
Why virtue signaling does nothing.
22 July, 2018
"A big problem with moral outrage on the Internet is that it leads people to think they’ve done something when in fact they haven’t done something," says author Alice Dreger. Sure, you might get a little rush out of updating your status to say something, but all you're really doing is virtue signaling. Alice's latest book is Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and One Scholar's Search for Justice.
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