Facebook has strict policies in place regarding what type of content is allowed on their platform. Asking for recommendations directly violates one of their core community standards policies. There are a few key reasons why Facebook prohibits users from soliciting recommendations:
Preventing Spam
If users were allowed to openly ask for recommendations, likes, shares etc, it would quickly lead to rampant spamming and lower quality content on Facebook. People could easily ask their friends for recommendations on their business, product, service without providing any real value. This would clutter up news feeds and create a poor user experience.
By restricting direct solicitation, Facebook aims to keep their platform focused on meaningful connections and sharing between friends and family. While businesses can still maintain pages, they must follow Facebook’s guidelines around posting informative and relevant content that would organically gain likes and engagement from interested users.
Maintaining Authenticity
Facebook wants to ensure engagement and recommendations on their platform are authentic and meaningful. If users could simply ask friends for recommendations, the meaning and value of those would be significantly diluted.
For example, if someone asks “Can you recommend my business?” – any resulting likes or positive comments may not actually demonstrate a genuine interest from the friend. The recommendation was essentially prompted or coerced. This artificially inflates the perceived popularity of a page or piece of content.
Facebook aims to avoid this in order to keep recommendations authentic. They want likes, shares and comments to represent true connections between users about content they organically find meaningful or interesting.
Commercialization Concerns
Direct solicitation of recommendations also commercializes the social experience on Facebook. The platform aims to maintain an enjoyable user experience between friends and family, not bombard them with constant promotional requests.
If businesses could constantly pepper personal feeds with pleas for recommendations, it would detract from Facebook’s intention as a network for building social connections.
Additionally, indiscriminate solicitation, even by individuals, could be annoying and compromise the user experience. Facebook therefore limits recommendations to emerge organically through users discovering and genuinely interacting with content.
Legal Liability
Explicitly allowing recommendation requests could also open up potential legal issues around endorsements and advertising disclosure requirements. Regulators closely watch social platforms to ensure proper transparency around paid advertising or influencer posts.
If Facebook allowed unchecked recommendations, even between friends, it risks potentially misleading users about underlying commercial relationships. Limiting direct solicitation helps avoid veering into legally ambiguous territory.
Alternatives to Requesting Recommendations
While users cannot openly ask for recommendations on Facebook, there are some alternative approaches that can help organically build real engagement:
- Post valuable, sharable content that provides entertainment or helps the community. Funny videos, helpful DIY tips and thoughtful perspectives are more likely to garner natural shares and recommendations.
- Engage meaningfully with others by commenting on posts, joining Groups, and building connections through providing value, not asking for it.
- Utilize Facebook Ads to promote content to interested users who can then organically interact with the page or business.
- Focus on building an authentic audience that wants to discover and engage with the content for its inherent value.
The Intent Behind the Policy
While the prohibition on requesting recommendations may seem restrictive, it aims to cultivate authentic communities and maintain a positive user experience. Facebook alternatives like NextDoor do allow some forms of local business recommendations, demonstrating there are ways to allow it with care.
But for a platform of Facebook’s massive scale, limiting direct solicitation of engagement is currently seen as vital. The policy helps avoid overwhelming users, keeps the focus on genuine connections, and maintains the site’s intended social, non-commercialized experience.
As with all their standards, Facebook is constantly evaluating feedback and working to find the right balance. But for now, openly asking friends for recommendations remains inconsistent with the environment and experience they strive to offer.
Conclusion
In summary, Facebook restricts users from explicitly soliciting likes, shares and recommendations to:
- Prevent spam and maintain content quality
- Ensure authentic engagement and recommendations
- Avoid excessive commercialization of the user experience
- Limit potential legal risks around endorsements
While this may seem limiting, it aims to cultivate the type of genuine connections and community engagement that has defined the Facebook experience. There are other ways to organically build awareness and recommendations around content and businesses. But outright asking for endorsements remains against Facebook’s current policies.