Facebook Flub: Aw, Snap!

Part three of my continuing personal saga with Facebook involves that little "Recommend" box that one will find on many articles on the internet.

I have literally "put baby in the corner" - and by baby, I am referring to myself, by NOT posting articles on my personal page any longer. As many of my articles have to do with the topic of the obesity rate in the U.S., the rise of child obesity, health & fitness, and blogs/articles about our food supply and choices here in America, I have made a conscious choice to post these articles directly to Fit With Jo.

What's cool is that when I read an article I'd like to share, all I need to do is click the little Facebook link (widget, I think it's called) and then I will be given the CHOICE as to WHERE I would like to post it on FB: my personal wall, Fit With Jo, a private group? 

I get the choice.

I learned yesterday that THIS IS NOT THE CASE with the "Recommend" button.

Yesterday, as I went to recommend an article, I assumed (wrongly) that I would be given the choice as to where the post advertising the link I was recommending would be published. Only I was not given any options other than my personal wall.

Thus, I decided not to continue (and by continue I mean by typing a short note about the piece I was recommending). Instead, I closed the pop-up.

Only, by clicking "recommend", the link had already gone through - whereas normally when you "share" a link, it will not post unless you click "publish". 

Since I have my wall closed to outside posts, my article recommendation did NOT show up on my wall.

BUT IT DID SHOW UP IN EVERYONE ELSE'S NEWSFEED: "Joline Pinto Atkins recommends a LINK."

Please note, if you click "recommend" the link will immediately post on your profile wall. The deed is done. And you will not have a choice to link it to the page of your choice. 

I ultimately chose to remove the link all together because one point in the article obviously frustrated a friend of mine. 

As I've mentioned in two blog posts now, I am not going there - into debate-mode - on FB any longer. I'm just not. I do not want that aggravation. Especially since no actual audible words were being exchanged about the content of the article. We weren't having a conversation about the piece. There was simply a LINK to a piece. I made no commentary when I recommended it. Even so, the response that followed, reminded me once again, what a slippery platform FB is. 

So I deleted the recommendation's existence from the Newsfeed.

Be careful of that pesky "Recommend" button.

Lesson learned.

Again.