My 2¢ . . . that can be “promoted” by Facebook for just $5.

I noticed today that there was a new option underneath my  business page status update, called “Promote.”  I clicked on the option and learned that for the low, low price of just $5, I had the option to “Get more people who like your Page to see this post!”

How exciting!  OF COURSE I want more people to see this post!  Wait. Whaaaa?  Let me get this straight.

I am supposed to spend time building strong relationships with my audience by creating engaging social media content for my business page. Check.

I am supposed to be personal and interactive in my social media conversations with those people. Check.

And now, I should pay $5 to make sure that my engaging, personal, and interactive social media content has a better chance of reaching them?

I’m confused – I thought if my content was engaging and compelling, it would build an audience who WANTED to interact with me.  And if people interacted with my content, it would increase the exposure potential for that content (see EdgeRank). I didn’t know after I spent all that time building an audience that Facebook would step in to “help me reach them more effectively” for the low price of just $5-$10 dollars.

So I can already pay to reach people who might be interested in my business via ads, sponsored stories, etc.  And now I can even pay to reach people who I’m already reaching.

Technically you could always advertise to people already connected to your page by making sure they were included in the demographics you were targeting with your ads.  But the difference is those ads would show up on the right side with the rest of the ads.  These “promoted” status updates show up right in the newsfeed, and if someone interacts with that promoted post, it will be visible to their friends.

Ok, so I see the positive there. But I guess it still feels a little weird to have a business pay in order have a more effective reach to the audience they’ve already built.

I understand that this feature is still in its testing phase at this point, and yes I do understand that Facebook is a business as well as a social platform.  So who knows, maybe it will be a great option that will help businesses more effectively market themselves on a platform that consistently hammers home the idea of conversing with your audience rather than marketing to them.  And maybe, certain businesses will look at this as a perfect opportunity to flood your newsfeed with their awesome products, deals, and offers.  I suppose only time will tell.

Don’t get me wrong — I like Facebook, and hopefully this post won’t make Facebook change their relationship status with me to “It’s Complicated.”  At the end of the day, whether you like Facebook or not, it’s something that has changed the way we interact with each other, making this vast world feel a little smaller.  I just hope that another change isn’t on the way — one that will make Facebook less about connecting, sharing, and engaging, and more about . . . well, advertising.

For more details (and less snark) about the Promote feature, see Business Insider.