Jeff Bullas

Questioning the business value of a new feature is exactly the right mindset.

Short Answer: Yes, businesses can use Notes effectively for quick, informal text-based messages like flash sales or content teasers, as long as you understand its limited visibility.

Think of this text-based format not as a replacement for Stories, but as a low-effort way to engage the most active segment of your community.

The most important thing to realise about Notes is that they are not a broadcast tool for all your followers. Your Note is only visible to two groups: followers that you also follow back, and your ‘Close Friends’ list. This makes it a tool for your inner circle, not for mass communication.

Because of its 24-hour lifespan and this limited audience, it’s perfect for the exact use cases you mentioned. Announcing a daily special or a limited-time discount code in a Note is a brilliant way to reward your most loyal community members. It’s not meant to replace a visually rich Story announcement, which reaches a broader audience. Instead, it’s a quick, low-effort nudge that creates a sense of insider info. Keep the tone conversational and the offer simple, and it can be a surprisingly effective tool for driving immediate action from your best customers.

Cheers,
Jeff

Understanding how your content gets ranked is fundamental to a solid strategy.

Short Answer: The Story algorithm primarily ranks content based on your relationship with the viewer and the recency of your post; it prioritises showing stories from accounts people interact with the most.

You have to think of the algorithm’s goal for this video and image format: it wants to predict who the user wants to see at that very moment.

Your observation is spot on; the algorithm is all about relationships. It analyses hundreds of signals, but the most powerful ones are indicators of a close connection. It heavily weights interactions like who a user sends DMs to, whose feed posts they like and comment on, and whose profiles they visit. The more a specific follower interacts with your account as a whole, the earlier your Story will appear in their tray. This is why sparking conversations in the DMs is one of the most powerful things you can do for your visibility.

After that, the next most important factor is recency. The Story feed is designed to be a snapshot of what’s happening right now, so newer content will always be pushed ahead of older content. Finally, the algorithm also looks at engagement on the Story itself. If a particular image or video in your Story gets a lot of replies or sticker taps, it signals that the content is high-quality, which can give it a slight boost.

Cheers,
Jeff

Yes, the “Close Friends” feature can be an incredibly effective tool for business if you reframe its purpose from personal friendships to professional exclusivity.

Using a feature designed for intimacy as a business tool is a sharp marketing instinct.

Short Answer: Yes, it’s an incredibly effective tool for nurturing your warmest leads or delivering exclusive content to existing clients, turning a broadcast video format into a VIP experience.

The goal is to leverage the feature’s built-in exclusivity to make a select group of people feel like insiders, which is a powerful psychological trigger for text, image, and video content.

First, stop thinking of it as a “Close Friends” list and start thinking of it as your “Inner Circle” or “VIP” list. The name is irrelevant to the user; the feeling of exclusivity is what matters.

The two best strategies are lead nurturing and client retention. For lead nurturing, you can add your most engaged followers—the ones who always reply to your Stories and comment on your posts—and offer them higher-value content. This could be a private Q&A using the question sticker, a behind-the-scenes look at a new service you’re developing, or early access to a sale.

For client retention, you can use it as a value-add for people who have already bought from you. By adding them to the list, you can provide exclusive tutorials on how to get the most out of your product or service. As long as the content you share there is genuinely exclusive and valuable, your audience won’t find it strange; they’ll feel valued.

Cheers,
Jeff

Proactively setting up these boundaries is one of the most important things you can do for a teen online.

The Critical Three: The three most essential settings to configure are setting the default post audience to ‘Friends’, enabling ‘Timeline and Tagging Review’, and limiting friend requests to ‘Friends of friends’.

These settings work together to give your daughter complete control over who sees the text, image, and video content that makes up her online presence.

The best place to start is by sitting down with your daughter and going through the ‘Privacy Checkup’ tool together, as it walks you through the key options. First, ensure her default audience for all future text posts and photos is set to ‘Friends’, not ‘Public’. Second, you must turn on both ‘Timeline Review’ and ‘Tag Review’; this means any time a friend tags her in a photo or a post, she has to approve it before that content appears on her timeline, giving her veto power. Finally, change the setting for who can send friend requests from ‘Everyone’ to ‘Friends of friends’ to reduce contact from strangers.

Cheers,

Jeff

Moving from chaotic DMs to a booking system is a brilliant step for any service business.

The Bottom Line: The tool is a good starting point for simple, one-person bookings, but it lacks the advanced features like downpayments and multi-staff scheduling that a salon typically requires.

Think of it as a tool that neatly organises your text content—your list of services and prices—but doesn’t handle the more complex financial or logistical side.

The main advantage of the Facebook tool is that it is free and integrated, making it incredibly easy for a customer to book you right from your page. For a solo operator offering a simple list of services, it’s an excellent way to organise your calendar and automate reminders. However, for your situation, you will run into its limits quickly. The tool does not typically allow you to collect deposits or downpayments, which is a key feature for reducing no-shows, and managing several distinct calendars for three different stylists can become clunky compared to dedicated salon software. I suggest you try it, but expect to outgrow it and eventually need a specialised booking platform.

Cheers,

Jeff

That’s a great question, as the Watch feed is actively trying to learn from everything you do.

The Main Signal: The algorithm primarily decides what to show you based on which videos you watch and for how long, combined with your likes, comments, and shares.

It essentially ranks all available video content based on how it predicts you will personally react to it.

The most powerful signal you send is watch time. If you watch a five-minute video to the end, you are telling the algorithm you are very interested in that topic and creator; if you scroll past a video after only a few seconds, it learns you’re not. You can definitely train it. The best way is to be intentional with your text-based engagement by actively searching for, commenting on, and sharing the video content you enjoy. For the content you don’t like, do not engage at all. The fastest way to remove it is to click the three dots on the video and choose ‘Show me less’ to provide direct, negative feedback.

Cheers,

Jeff

It’s incredibly important to be cautious and ask these questions before you donate.

The Safest Rule: The safest fundraisers are those for registered nonprofit organisations, as the money goes directly to the charity. You should be extremely cautious with ‘personal cause’ fundraisers created by individuals you don’t know.

You can determine the legitimacy of a fundraiser by carefully analysing the text and image content it presents for clues.

When you see a fundraiser, the first thing to check is if it’s for a registered nonprofit or a personal cause. A verified nonprofit fundraiser is the most secure option as Facebook has vetted the organisation. For personal fundraisers, you need to scrutinise the content. Read the text of the description; is it specific with names and a clear goal, or is it vague and emotionally manipulative? Look at the image and video content; do the photos look genuine or like generic stock images? The safest advice for personal fundraisers is to only donate to people you personally know and trust. If you don’t know the organiser, it is better to find a registered local charity working on the same cause and donate to them instead.

Cheers,

Jeff

It’s a crucial question to ask before you lock in your budget and ticket price.

The Short Answer: Yes, Facebook does charge fees for tickets sold on its platform, which are typically a combination of a payment processing fee and a service fee.

These fees are for the convenience of using their integrated system to monetise the text and image content that makes up your event page.

It is standard for any online ticketing platform to charge for this service, and the total fee is deducted from your ticket revenue before the payout. The exact percentage can vary based on your location and current policies, so there isn’t one single global rate. However, the most important thing to know is that Facebook will show you a full breakdown of all fees and your estimated payout per ticket during the event setup process, before you finalise and publish it. My strong advice is to walk through the setup steps to see the precise calculation for yourself, which will allow you to adjust your ticket price to cover the fees if needed.

Cheers,

Jeff