FB Messing with Firearms Companies (Sept 2022)?

[Craig_AR]

Two local businesses, one a LGS (Bullseye Guns & Ammo) and the other a firearms training business (Last Resort Firearms Training), use Facebook for their WWW presence. For several years I have been able to go to their sites on FB without logging in to FB. As of about a week ago, (August 2022) when I try to get to either page I can only get to a FB login screen. The owners of both companies were not aware of this and had made no changes in their settings.
If you know other FB-based firearms stores or trainers, have you seen the same change?

Based on my career in cybersecurity and privacy, I deem FB as totally evil and refuse to have an account. I wish all commercial and civic organizations would pull their heads out and realize FB does NOT equal The World, and they need their web presence on a generic web server, not buried in the Meta verse.

 

[uuolf]

Amen brother... Add tweecher and instacrap to fakebook... Shared hosting costs next to nothing.... even dedicated servers are getting really cheap... We're heading down a very slippery slope

 

[Craig_AR]

Add tweecher and instacrap to fakebook

Note that the overlord company Meta owns FB, Instagram,WhatApp, Oculus, and Messenger. Twitter is its own separate world from Meta. Expect all Meta companies to display similar censorial biases.

 

[22250Rem]

I'm not a FB person but have noticed I have less access to certain sites because I am unable to log into FB because I have no account. So, am I to assume that the owners of these web sites are losing exposure and business due to lots of their customers, or potential customers being prevented from accessing their web site? That doesn't sound right.

 

[dogtown tom]

Two local businesses, one a LGS (Bullseye Guns & Ammo) and the other a firearms training business (Last Resort Firearms Training), use Facebook for their WWW presence.

Why on earth would any business rely solely on Facebook? I cannot think of any reason whatsoever.

 

[hso]

 

[Otto]

Two local businesses, one a LGS (Bullseye Guns & Ammo) and the other a firearms training business (Last Resort Firearms Training), use Facebook for their WWW presence. For several years I have been able to go to their sites on FB without logging in to FB. As of about a week ago, (August 2022) when I try to get to either page I can only get to a FB login screen.

Facebook does this to inflate their DAUs numbers....Daily Active Users. The higher the numbers, the more ads they sell. It's also a metric that reflects their growth.
You'll be happy to know that Meta has lost half it's value since Jan. 3. From $339 a share to $160.

 

[Craig_AR]

View attachment 1100578
Yes, this is Ed Monk's Last Resort page.

View attachment 1100579

Sorry, but this is the wrong Bullseye. You got t a range in TN. My local store is a gun shop in Little Rock.

Did you have to log into FB to get to those sites?

 

[hso]

Nope

Searched the names like any other

 

[hso]

While it was no trouble to find Last Resort, I can't find Bullseye Guns & Ammo in Arkansas by putting their name in SEARCH. Interesting the one pops right up, but not the other.

 

[daverich4]

Sorry, but this is the wrong Bullseye. You got t a range in TN. My local store is a gun shop in Little Rock.

Did you have to log into FB to get to those sites?

 

[hso]

dropping @BullseyeLR into google did it as well. Thanks daverich4.

 

[Tallinar]

Facebook does this to inflate their DAUs numbers....Daily Active Users. The higher the numbers, the more ads they sell. It's also a metric that reflects their growth.
You'll be happy to know that Meta has lost half it's value since Jan. 3. From $339 a share to $160.

This is the answer.

In this case, this isn’t about Facebook singling out firearms companies. They are just trying to get folks to sign up and login. It’s a money thing for them.

Why on earth would any business rely solely on Facebook? I cannot think of any reason whatsoever.

Many businesses do it because it’s simple and cheaper than getting a website, while giving them online visibility. Not saying it’s the smartest or best way to do it, but that’s the basic reason.

Many gun folks are not internet savvy and don’t want to be.

 

[CapnMac]

The settings available to an individual User will vary based on what browser they are in, what sort of cookies and permissions have been permitted within that browser. And, that will vary based on what device is used.

Go run a browser cleaner and open your browser again.

Unless you have exempted certain permission/access/cookies, you will likely have to go to Log In screens for any site, even bookmarked, you wish to open.

Having opened such a site, you will have granted permissions to your browser to do so.

So, when you go click a link, your browser will often recognize your permissions and open that link without asking for a log in.

This is not shenanigans, it's a facet of modern life. We blow by granting ourselves permission to do things online, and only really notice when things act differently. Like as not, this is what you are seeing.

For better or for worse, f/b has around a billion users, virtually all of the "things" it does are the result of automation. Just bots. Humans are only involved later, much later and only after several bots have been run through. There are only around a thousand f/b employees, with only a few hundred "on the clock" at any given point. The ratio of content to employee requires this level of automation.

Machines operate mechanically, not necessarily with reason.

 

[bearcreek]

Why on earth would any business rely solely on Facebook? I cannot think of any reason whatsoever.

Ignorance combined with short sighted convenience.