If you own a Facebook page, expect the number of likes to drop on 12th march.
The company will be removing certain inactive accounts next week from Pages’ like counts.
The communication was revealed through a blog post and Facebook said it did it to make audience data even more meaningful for businesses.
“we’re updating the way Page likes are counted by removing memorialized and voluntarily deactivated accounts from Pages’ like counts.”
Facebook also wants to make business results consistent with individual users’ experiences. Facebook said it already filters out “likes and comments generated by deactivated or memorialized accounts from individual Page posts.”
If deactivated accounts are reactivated, any likes coming from those accounts will be re-added to a Page’s like count.
See the statement below.
Making Page Likes More Meaningful
Businesses use Page audience data to understand what their followers care about. To make audience data even more meaningful for businesses, we’re updating the way Page likes are counted by removing memorialized and voluntarily deactivated accounts from Pages’ like counts. This change ensures that data on Facebook is consistent and up-to-date.Removing inactive Facebook accounts
There are two primary benefits to removing voluntarily deactivated and memorialized Facebook accounts from Pages’ like counts:Business results: Removing inactive Facebook accounts from Page audience data gives businesses up-to-date insights on the people who actively follow their Page and makes it easier for businesses to find people like their followers through tools like lookalike audiences.Consistency: We already filter out likes and comments generated by deactivated or memorialized accounts from individual Page posts, so this update keeps data consistent.What to expect
Over the coming weeks, Page admins should expect to see a small dip in their number of Page likes as a result of this update. It’s important to remember, though, that these removed likes represent people who were already inactive on Facebook.Going forward, any accounts that are voluntarily deactivated or memorialized will be removed from a Page’s like count. If a deactivated account is reactivated, the account will be re-added to a Page’s like count.Everyone benefits from meaningful information on Facebook. It’s our hope that this update makes Pages even more valuable for businesses.
