To boycott, or not to boycott (Facebook)?
I want to talk about Facebook, which has been in the news lately for a couple things relevant to nonprofits: There’s a growing movement for businesses and organizations to boycott Facebook, especially Facebook ads, because of the hostile and hateful environment Facebook has created for Black people. Some are boycotting through the month of July, others (more boldly) for the rest of the year. The coalition driving this effort has guidelines for who should participate and how. Less important, but still noteworthy, Facebook will now give users an opportunity to opt out of seeing political ads—which includes ads from most nonprofits, because Facebook doesn’t distinguish between social issues and political campaigns. As a consultant, I feel like I ought to have a clear recommendation for how to deal with Facebook, but this is murky territory, and I can’t make a clear list of do’s and don’ts. But I do have lot of thoughts on the increasingly fraught quagmire that is the Facebook nonprofit landscape. Facebook is making it harder and harder for nonprofits to reach audiences organically. Facebook is also putting up hurdles to reaching audiences through ads. Facebook is still rife with barely-policed misinformation. And despite all that, Facebook Read More
