Businesses who still use Facebook as their website...

Akrasia

It's 2024, lots of people don't use Facebook anymore and there are few things more annoying than trying to find out about a business or service I'm interested in supporting and then getting the Facebook login page telling me I can't read the information without signing up.

The worst culprits are businesses that host events. Surely there's a better platform in this day and age than exclusively using Facebook or Instagram for their annnouncements

prunudo

Lots of people still use or certainly have Facebook, what is the platform that you use, which you think businesses should move to, to accommodate you?

Wanderer78

never had a facebook account, just never appealed to me, can still navigate without it, boards is actually the only social media ive ever done, couldnt be arsed with it at all....

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749216#Comment_121749216

Lots of people /= everyone but me

prunudo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749229#Comment_121749229

If you can perfect a platform that everyone uses you'll be a billionaire.

Tenzor07

I see a lot of Gardening/Landscaping/trash removal services popping up on FB all the time... I'm sure they're fully legit and licensed... 😏

Annasopra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058335538/businesses-who-still-use-facebook-as-their-website

What is your suggested alternative?

StrawbsM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749242#Comment_121749242

I say bring back golden pages! Everyone had a copy

Annasopra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749407#Comment_121749407

Rubbish removal I would question

Tenzor07

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749415#Comment_121749415

I would too Boss... ;)

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058335538/businesses-who-still-use-facebook-as-their-website

3.6m users in Ireland alone for facebook

2.5m for instagram

The cost of creating and running a website is large for a company, especially keeping updates etc. Facebook is a cheaper alternative and has instant chat etc

It's an excellent option, do you have an alternative with the user base as above?

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749407#Comment_121749407

Honestly the person with a sign "rubbish removal" is just fly tipping and people should stay away. The real companies will offer a receipt/proof of dumping etc/

Go back 20 years and yellow pages/local newspaper/shop advertising was full of the same companies. If you are looking for a company then research and ask for proper references.

Tork

Facebook has its issues it would be better if companies had their own proper websites. But at least you have a better idea of when a business updated its details on Facebook. With a website, the information can be out of date. There is no perfect solution.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749603#Comment_121749603

You can make a website on Blogger or Google Sites for free plus a bit of your time.

To give it a better web address eg www.mybusiness.com costs whatever you pay for the address: .com can be got for just over a tenner.

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058335538/businesses-who-still-use-facebook-as-their-website

Agree. I don't use Facebook either never have.

I think using Facebook looks less professional than using their own website.

If I get the please sign up message I just move on go back the internet search and look for another company

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749742#Comment_121749742

then you don't have a customer base of 3.6m :-)

The websites on Blogger and Google the majority of time look like a amateaur has done it and then you have to try advertise the website to get people to it. With facebook word of mouth is easy to pass around

Im not trying to oversell facebook and all I use it for now is really from a business point of view instead of the original purpose

jmcc

It is a growing trend globally. Businesses and ordinary users also use Linkedin landers for their business rather than going to the trouble of developing their own website. Most retail domain name registrars offer Wordpress as an installable option and it is the main content development system used by businesses. Joomla is also up there. It gets down to ease of use and cost.

Regards...jmcc

JVince

Facebook has developed into a golden pages type site.

Probably 5+ years since I've posted on my page, but I'll use it for clubs I'm involved in and looking for information.

The day of looking at it for the picture of a nephew or other family member doing something is long long gone.

But as an information source for business and clubs, it's still very relevant

RurtBeynolds

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749603#Comment_121749603

Yes, the Internet has a much higher user base. Why exclude half the country from accessing information about your business? Doesn't seem like a very good business decision.

If I'm trying to access a service, that service only having a presence on Facebook immediately rules them out for me. It tells me they are unprofessional. I would rather hire a professional, or at least someone who has the wherewithal to at least pretend to appear professional.

lmao10

Normal people of certain age groups would certainly be expected to have a facebook account if they had a normal social circle. I imagine those people are their target demographic. The amount of people in that demographic who don't have a facebook account would be minimal and probably not the most social people. Obviously there will be exceptions but it will be mostly loners without a facebook in that demographic sadly. Harsh but true.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058335538/businesses-who-still-use-facebook-as-their-website

Businesses use the mediums that best get them to their target market and many of them have market bods and research behind their advertising and presence choices. And in that respect if you want to target adults with disposable income then FB is going to be front and center. Most of the kids who joint FB in their 20s or so are now the ones with the cash to spend and it would be very foolish to ignore them. I know a travel agent who only uses a biweekly paper newsletter... this one man company has a turnover of almost 10m - most of his customers have not got a clue how to use the internet - their pensioners with both time and money to spend.

If the companies you are trying to hook up with are not on your media choices, it's because you are not their target or because they are a small company doing DIY marketing.

3DataModem

"Never have used facebook" but an expert on why it's bad.

3.5m Irish users. Super easy to create. Messaging, security, reporting, and content moderation for free. :shrug:

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121911475#Comment_121911475

You don't exclude half the country, in reality the majority of people with income will use facebook, so your best return on investment will be on facebook.

I personally would not discount a supplier based on their website.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749999#Comment_121749999

If your customer base is 3.6 million, you don't need a free or cheap website!

Just because someone has a facebook account doesn't mean they actually use it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749216#Comment_121749216

Their own website maybe.. seriously nowadays that should be a given...

less and less ppl use FB, its crap :)

I got rid of my account years ago, waste of time..

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121912178#Comment_121912178

Im not actually sure what the point of the post is?

pixelburp

I stripped back my FB "Friends" to the bare minimum & those I actually knew (as opposed to random ex-coworkers I never spoke to when I DID work with them) plus a smattering of local FB Groups who have been extremely useful over the last few months in sourcing local businesses, or just communicating with other residents on communal issues.

It's a known "problem" for Facebook that their user-base has stalled and shrinking, mostly cos young people have no interest in the site - but then young people don't tend to have the same kind of disposable income that might cause them to see out the kind of local businesses that still keep a FB account active.

In any case, what odds? It's just another arm of marketing for companies, no more so than a painted van or a fistful of business cards left on the conter of the local coffee-shop / stuck on a corkboard outside the Tesco.

Furze99

Facebook Groups have a lot of activity in many cases. Some of the ones I follow, are actively targeted by people & businesses working in the area, offering relevant services. I'd think they do well enough out of it for very little cost.

Patrick Mahomes

There is a local Facebook group to me run by a citizen journalist type who sticks their camera in everyone’s face and live streams everything.

The same individual has been banned numerous times from Boards over the years for doxxing posters who posted negative things about that group on Boards.

A lot of these Facebook groups have just turned into hate filled screaming at the clouds groups.

Most business pages are cash in hand for work and pay up front and of course there are genuine businesses that on a local level Facebook is easier for them than having a website.

Regards,

P.

scottser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121911570#Comment_121911570

People who don't have facebook accounts are loners and losers?

Now we know Zuckerberg's boards ID..

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749603#Comment_121749603

Whatever about the instagram figures there's no way that 3.6m in Ireland are using Facebook. Practically nobody under 30 uses it, which is probably about a third of the population. Even if you were to be generous and say that half of the rest of the population was using it then you'd only end up at around 1.76m.

I'd love to see whatever accounting tricks someone came up with to get that figure. Must be counting bots or something.

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122384599#Comment_122384599

I'm dubious of anyone under 40 using it....

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122384599#Comment_122384599

SO you have no idea how they came up with the numbers but you know they are not correct 😂

For most business getting access to 1.7m customers is a massive customer base would you not think?

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121749220#Comment_121749220

I can still view information on Facebook without an account, I find it toxic myself but I can see why companies use as cheaper than a domain website

JVince

Facebook is still very relevant, but it has very much transitioned from photos of your kids and dogs and showing off where you went on holidays to effectively become a modern day golden pages.

Its probably 3 years since I posted anything or made a comment, but I used it an hour ago to check for a phone number and get a feeling for a new dog groomer I plan to use. He recent posts, recent photos and reviews mean I'll be giving her a new client.

TheValeyard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122384772#Comment_122384772

Definitely this. It's a 21st century golden pages now.

Facebook is not cool, fashionable or anything like that. It does serve a purpose though.

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122384729#Comment_122384729

Yes. I have no idea how they come with their preposterous figure but I know that it is a preposterous figure. That is a perfectly logical.

flyer_query

Not sure why everyone is having a pile on against the OP who asked a genuine and relevant question. Loads of smartass useless comments.

The reason this question is relevant is because facebook along with twitter have changed something where you need to be logged into view most businesses. Rewind 12mths ago and it didnt matter if you were registered on facebook or not as anyone could see all the relevant details about the business on both facebook and twitter, however now if you dont have a facebook account you dont get to see the business details. This is their reaction to their shrinking userbase but its very short term focused. 12mths ago I would go to a facebook link of a business but now I wont even click on a facebook link because I know I am wasting my time.

So for example, google "gardner in castlebar" and you get a page full of links, a few of them are facebook but if I try access I get a pop up "Please log in to see this page" so this page is pointless to me, this was not the case 12mths ago. So in this case I simply click back and find one of the other 10 gardeners who are not on facebook so this business is clearly losing out.

Flinty997

Never liked Facebook. Any company that randomly changes privacy settings to expose your data is not to be used.

They've allowed to much spam and trolling. Our local neighbour group is mostly unreadable these days. So much spam and scams and advertising. Rarely look at it.

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122385580#Comment_122385580

😂

So you have no idea but it is a "preposterous figure"

See below, looks like they a little bit research than pulling a hole out of their ass and then claiming it was correct, which is the best description of what you did 😂

Good for you on trying to claim it was "perfectly logical"

There were 3 876 700 Facebook users in Ireland in January 2024, which accounted for 75.8% of its entire population. The majority of them were women - 55%.

https://napoleoncat.com/stats/facebook-users-in-ireland/2024/01/#:~:text=There%20were%203%20876%20700,them%20were%20women%20%2D%2055%25.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1017375/facebook-users-ireland/

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122386391#Comment_122386391

If I were to state that there were 1 million Bangladeshis living in Waterford you wouldn't have to know how I arrived that figure to know that it's a preposterous one. I shouldn't really need to explain that to you but…it seems that I did

That source state that that number came from Facebook's marketing API so it's entirely unverifiable. No doubt they have every incentive to high ball their figures since the share price of the company is driven by those kinds of metrics.

People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (946 900).

(is this the bit that I use a cry laughing emoji? You'll have to excuse me. I'm not 14 years old)

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122386391#Comment_122386391

How many of that 78% are tourists who had visited sometime in the last 12 months, but have now gone home?

Facebook influence is far less than its reach: under 25s think its for dinosaurs.

And people don't go there to search. They may question local groups, but answers are usually poor quality.

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122386654#Comment_122386654

As I said even the number pulled out of the poster ass of 1.7m is a huge customer base for a company

The question originally was why a company would use facebook and the large customer base is why

You can argue the toss with @Brussels Sprout over which made up number you can come up with no research is the right one

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122386615#Comment_122386615

Just a FYI

😂

Face with Tears of Joy

A yellow face with a big grin, uplifted eyebrows, and smiling eyes, each shedding a tear from laughing so hard. Widely used to show something is funny or pleasing. 

hoodie6029

’Facebook - the internet for people who don’t know what the internet is’

Flinty997

Facebook stats - stats for people who don't know how stats are what you make them.

Flinty997

If you have a business, either have a decent contacts page or stay off the internet.

A staggering account of all the small businesses I see on social media don't have any contact details, or where they are. Madness.

flyer_query

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122386674#Comment_122386674

dude, you need to be able to admit you are wrong or at the very least walk away with a little bit of dignity. Stop digging

Flinty997

Facebooks a fossil.

Shan Doras

It was sad how Facebook stole the social media market from Bebo

hoodie6029

A lot of places only need the equivalent of ITcorp.com. Gets the point across.