ATTN
I am writing this to inform you of a serious injustice currently going on behind the scenes for thousands of users on Facebook, in particular with the pages aspect of their platform. In 2007, Facebook launched their fan pages component, which allowed Facebook users to create fan pages for all types of interests and purposes. You can create pages for small businesses, fan pages to bring fans of a certain character or superhero together, or simply to post/share content you enjoy with others. I'm guessing you have a Facebook page for your news outlet/site.
Within the past week, Facebook has eliminated hundreds of pages for no apparent reason, and has yet to issue an official explanation for their actions. I can assure you that many, if not all, of the pages eliminated were not erased for standard/regular reasons (fake traffic, spam, etc). This was a removal of hundred of pages with at least 30 million fans in total (all active users and real people) and as I said, no formal notice or explanation has been given by Facebook.
The reason this is news is not simply because Facebook made a massive page sweep/purge and didn't say anything. It is because the page owners behind these pages, many of whom have been building them for 5 years plus, suddenly had their entire followings and fanbases removed from their lives for no reason. There are hundreds of page owners terribly upset, especially because they have been left in the dark as to why this happened. Additionally, many page owners used their pages to generate income in legitimate ways. Selling merchandise and posting Facebook-approved sponsored links are a couple popular examples.
This is a case of a few clicks by a development team at a major tech company resulting in hundreds of individuals and families experiencing a direct loss of income, not to mention the enjoyment and ability of simply sharing content you like with others.
I am confident we can get some media coverage on this issue, as there hasn't been much yet to date. Most page owners are in mourning, so to speak, or angry, and haven't thought to reach out to news outlets. I have created a group (on Facebook, ironically) called Power to the Pages with nearly 500 members of the page owner community who can verify my claims and give their accounts/stories as to how this hurt them directly and financially. And I'm sure there are many more out there, I only represent/am connected to a portion of this page owner community.
Let me know if you are interested in learning more. Hope to hear back soon. Best,
Jason Karpowich
powertothepages@gmail.com
570-956-6737
https://www.change.org/p/facebook-facebook-to-recognize-page-owners-give-us-a-fb-rep-to-listen-to-our-issues-and-concerns