Facebook Organic Reach Did Not Drop… They Just Stopped Lying to Us

Just like you, all this time, I’ve always assumed that posting on a Facebook business page would “reach” a certain number of people.

Over the years we’ve seen that number decline, and there are are variety of reasons people have long been saying that organic reach is on the decline, if not yet altogether dead.

However, the word “Reach” has never been in doubt, at least not in my mind, and likely not in yours either.

Recently a client asked me if something was wrong, because he wasn’t getting the same sort of organic traction on his posts that he was used to seeing.

After verifying that yes, his paltry organic reach numbers HAD gotten even worse, I couldn’t find anything “wrong” and wondered if it might be an attempt at “revenue enhancement”, with all the recent negative press. After all, less organic reach means they might need to advertise, right?

Then I was poking around last night on my phone, I came across this screen, and was absolutely floored…

Wait – What?

I always that assumed “Reach” meant a successful conclusion – as in – you appeared on their screen. Sure they might have thumbed right past you, but at least you made it there, right?

No. Wrong. Facebook has been defining “reach” differently all this time. Here’s the Facebook page where they state this change  –

I don’t know when it changed, but it has, and I’m glad that they have decided to use a more accurate (i. e. true) definition of the word….