Fake Facebook Likes

[bolophonic]

Am I the only person who is curious how the whole thing went down when the OP immediately quit the band? Did you tell them it was because they fell for a lame ploy in an attempt to promote themselves, or did you tell them it was because you thought they were popular and then found out they were not?

 

[OTBass]

I can see both sides of this argument. And while I wouldn't say that "everyone's doing it", I lump buying likes in with other types of SEO. Well, okay, it's like a slightly more deceptive version of other types of SEO.

The thing is, yeah, if you have more "likes" on FB you have more visibility. BUT, all likes are not created equal! A random "like" from some fake account in Grenada where nobody will ever hear your music does MUCH LESS to increase your visibility than a "like" from someone who has friends that will dig your music, or who has friends who have already liked your page, etc.

So your time and money is better invested in building a REAL, LASTING web presence than the "quick fix" that fake Facebook likes provide. Trust me on this one - I get paid to do this kind of thing every day.

EDIT: My band doesn't buy likes. I guess I would compare it to adding your website to an "autosurfing" ring so it seems more popular than it is. Well, my band doesn't do that either. Our web presence works well for us because I created a tailored solution that effectively communicates with our fan base. I can't see us needing to buy likes in the future. I'm too good at the Internet for that.

OP again:

The point of fake FB likes isnt really visibility, its credibility. When music fans, promoters, bookers, etc see a bands FB has a crap ton of likes they will think the band has a following and is popular. Therefore they are more willing to check them out or book them. Which band are most people more likely to stop and listen to, the one with 30 likes or 6000? I'm an internet saavy musician and even I (temporarily) fell for it.

Also- in response to the post above this...
I was never actually in the band. I declined their offer after passing my audition. The reasoning I gave them was that it wasnt my style, which is true.

One more note about this band: I later found out they buy up tickets to their own shows to inflate their numbers that way. So only 20 people may show up to a gig but they 'sold' 100 tickets and the venue is happy. Pay to play indeed!

This band should be called the Hot Air Balloons.

 

[jonas_24112]

As part of a plan/experiment, i bought 500 targeted Likes supposedly from the US. Went from 350 true original likes to a little over 1000. My top city is now Bangladesh LOL! It will be interesting to see how long the likes stay on my page. They seem to go up and down by the hour. It will also be interesting to see if we get some more serious venues calling us.

Also got a $50 FB advertising coupon, so I'm running that now to see what happens. Hopefully something interesting will come of it.

 

[thisSNsucks]

So lame.

My band has a friend who was interested in taking some manager duties, and decided he would handle our FB promotion and all that.

Next thing we know, 10,000 "likes" on facebook, 20,00 plays on youtube, twitter followers, etc.

Then we realized they were all from fake accounts in Indonesia or something.

Total F'ing waste of money (luckily it was his money, not ours) and IMO makes your band (my band in this situation) like a joke.

So annoying.

 

[the Arsonaut]

got a singer-songwriter solo guy coming through this month, one of these "I was going to be someone big" a couple of years ago...

I check out the venue FB, and half of his fans "liking" the event, are from indonesia...I hope they "like" new england weather...

 

[Fair Warning]

So lame.

My band has a friend who was interested in taking some manager duties, and decided he would handle our FB promotion and all that.

Next thing we know, 10,000 "likes" on facebook, 20,00 plays on youtube, twitter followers, etc.

Then we realized they were all from fake accounts in Indonesia or something.

Total F'ing waste of money (luckily it was his money, not ours) and IMO makes your band (my band in this situation) like a joke.

So annoying.

Exactly.....the truth eventually shows through sooner or later. I as a bass player was looking for a gig, with people who I thought had their sheet together. Instead, you find they are a joke.