03/02/2020
Note that SDS will now be posting as HireScore. HireScore, as most of you know is our flagship SaaS offering and many people have started looking for us under that name. Also, FB is in breach of contract with us for this page so we have chosen not to build it back up if they are simply going to shut it down without explanation. More below . . .
To our 1200+ Facebook followers. Facebook has decided to de-list our page without explanation. Many times we had job postings taken down and every time, after we appealed, Facebook would return the postings. In other words, there was nothing in the postings that was against terms of service or offensive in any way. We seemed to be triggering an algorithm and then once a human saw it, and realized the algorithm was wrong, we were turned back on--every single time. We continued to assume that the algorithm was faulty, and asked Facebook to look into it many times. Other than that, we went about our business. Eventually, Facebook shut our page off completely, without explanation, and without an ability to appeal or even speak to a human in spite of the fact that we had spent 10’s of thousands of dollars on Facebook advertising.
So, what's a small, veteran-owned business to do when the social media goliath Facebook attempts to crush you?
Our initial response, of course, is to cut off paid advertising with Facebook. I understand that as a social media user you are the product, not the client. This was not true in our case. As a significant buyer of advertising for Facebook, we were a client and their treatment of us is unexplainably terrible.
Beyond the obvious step above, we are engaged in a series of PR moves and potentially legal moves to make Facebook reconsider its business practices. I am not optimistic that any of these moves will work, but I'd prefer to resist than to let Facebook go on abusing its substantial power base. At a minimum, people engaged in brand building on Facebook should know that they could be shut off at any time without recourse. Also, investors such as Peter Theil should know that the company they are invented in on treats their clients like garbage.
If you have ideas or would like to join us, please PM me below. If you are a representative of Facebook and would like to discuss, please PM, call, or email anytime. My best-case scenario is to simply talk to a person at Facebook and figure out a plan forward that doesn't include lawyers and allows me to take down this post in good conscience.
