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Facebook Ads, I remember when you used to be cool. For twenty bucks a month, I could reach between 100-700 readers. Utilizing their targeted ads, I reached people whose interests aligned with bothering the ones who couldn’t care less. Not too shabby. But when I tried to boost my latest post “What People in Power could Learn from David Lynch” I ran into trouble. First, Facebook Ads said my ad didn’t have enough funds. (Ok then why do you have the slider go down that far?) Then made me prepay $25 that I haven’t figured out how to get back. They finally ran my ad, but said that I would probably get no views unless I ponied up more cash. How the hell does that work?

Bro! Gimme my $25 back!

Facebook Ads and I had a good run. I’m not going to pretend that my voice needs to be heard or that I’m ever in step with the gestalt. But there were a couple hundred here and there who indeed wanted to know the nuances of the drummers of the Ramones or what hits international songwriting duo Chin and Chapman wrote besides “Ballroom Blitz.”

But what if there is someone out there with something important to say with the same cash flow problem as I have? Revolutions happen when the right words reach the right ears. Brian Eno famously said that the Velvet Underground only sold 30,000 copies, but every one of the 30,000 listeners started a band.

One would think that Meta, a company built on the shoulders of artists, would gatekeep art. It’s not like Meta needs to rent more trucks to send my blog posts down the internet wormholes. I’d like to say that the money goes towards paying for more security readers but if they aren’t using AI bots yet, they will be soon. It reeks of a cash grab. Let’s force Susie’s Seashells and Bob’s Bakery to shell out more dough. And if they are an artist who isn’t bringing in positive cashflow? Fuck ‘em.

Looks like the only blogger that will be left is Richie Rich, Can’t wait to read “Twenty Ways to Dispense with the Help if They Forget to Polish the Silver.” 

Fascists.

I used to be a contender