Surfer said:
Woodlands Camper said:
Hi Clare
I do not have a facebook account, and NEVER intend on having one. Why are you penalising people such as myself by not being able to enter competitions?
Please try to be all-inclusive to those who support the magazine.
I agree whole heartedly! Companies that discriminate because people do not belong to a gossip column like FB, Twitter etc are not worth the effort of giving them any money. Why on earth are they so desperate to get "likes" whatever that is unless the business is about to fold?
If you had read Claire's OP correctly she didn't actually ask whether you approve of Facebook or intend having a Facebook account.
Clare wrote:
If this is something that might appeal your friends and family, please share the love!
If you're on Facebook, please share this great comp
The operative word is 'If'
If you are not a Facebook user or for whatever reason you never intend to use Facebook that's fine, the OP wasn't asking or suggesting that you do anything at all because her message clearly doesn't appeal to you.
The competition to win a 10 month Practical Caravan subscription is open to Facebook users because the OP clearly states that '10 lucky likers are going to be given a 10 month subscription each'
To 'like' something on Facebook the potential 'liker' needs to have an active Facebook account.
You appear to be suggesting that because you choose not to participate you are being discriminated against, which is akin to claiming that the National Lottery is discriminating against you by not allowing you to win even though you have never bought a ticket.
To try to answer the question asking why Facebook 'likes' are important to commercial businesses:
A 'like' on a social media site such as Facebook is regarded as a sign of customer approval by companies who request or seek 'likes'.
Basically the user ticks a box or clicks a URL to indicate that they 'like' or approve of something.
Social media such as internet forums and Facebook, Twitter etc; are seen as emerging marketing tools which can be used for several purposes.
Brand evangelism ( a sort of peer to peer subliminal advertising) is a powerful marketing tool which increases the chances of brand advocacy (recommendations from ones friends or peers).
The brand promoters can identify emerging market trends, encourage deeper and more meaningful brand insight and engagement, which is considered to promote customer loyalty and lead to potential for increased customer spending on 'their' chosen brand.
Internet forums such as this one help to promote brand loyalty and Facebook is a powerful peer related reinforcer of brand identification and loyalty, so rather than a business being 'about to fold' the business is using emerging 21st century technology to actively promote and to reinforce it's brand image.