Mark Cuban, owner of NBA franchise the Dallas Mavericks, has attacked Facebook’s promoted posts program, saying the program is driving businesses away.
According to ReadWrite, the Mavericks owner was incensed by a recent “offer” from the social network to pay $US3,000 to send a single message to a million of the team’s fans and supporters, all of whom had voluntarily chosen to like the team.
Under Facebook’s promoted posts program, a status update posted by a company on the social media site will not reach 100% of the users who “like” that particular business unless that company pays a fee.
Cuban subsequently posted a screen shot of the offer on rival social network Twitter, saying the Mavericks were “considering moving to [rival social networks] Tumblr or to [the] new MySpace as [the team’s] new primary site”.
The franchise owner has since announced the Mavericks, along with 70 other companies he has investments in, are switching their social media focus from Facebook to rival social media network Twitter.
“The big negative for Facebook is that we will no longer push for likes or subscribers because we can’t reach them all. Why would we invest in extending our Facebook audience size if we have to pay to reach them? That’s crazy,” Cuban says.
“In many respects it has already blown up on Facebook. Their search for revenue has severely devalued every brand’s following and completely changed the economics of consumer interaction.”
“We are moving far more aggressively into Twitter and reducing any and all emphasis on Facebook. We won’t abandon Facebook, we will still use it, but our priority is to add followers that our brands can reach on non-Facebook platforms first.”
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
