A week and a half ago, Copyblogger deleted their Facebook page.

As you might expect from such an action, the intrawebs sounded off on what they could have done differently, what they did wrong with their page and, most importantly, why leaving Facebook is such a big mistake.

But who said anything about leaving Facebook?

A Few Minutes Ago
Copyblogger depends heavily on social media. It’s a massive volume of people sharing their articles that generates much of their traffic.

In fact, in just the time it took me to draft those opening paragraphs (about 5 minutes), 18 links to Copyblogger have been shared on Twitter.

Though it’s hard to get a similar number for Facebook, my experience suggests it’s at least that but likely more.

Think about that for a second.

All Part of the Show
So did Copyblogger leave Facebook? Of course not. They’ve simply hit two content and marketing home runs by:

1. A) Creating content that is just begging to be shared
2. B) Creating systems that maximize the volume of sharing

On that second point, let me fill you in on a little secret theory of mine. Copyblogger didn’t disable commenting on their site for most of the reasons they said. They disabled it because people LOVE to react and their comments section was massive. But, if removed, the only way for people to react would be on social media with a link to what they were reacting to.

This is what shows up in place of comments.

Again, think about that for a second. These guys know 10x more about marketing than they ever share in the words they write.

So Why?
So why did they delete a Facebook page with 38,000 fans? That had to have been generating some traffic. Right? Yes, but put that into perspective.

The post about killing their Facebook page was tweeted 3,200 times, liked 4,000 times, shared on LinkedIn 1,000 times, and +1’ed another 1,100 times. Average 10 clicks a share and you’re looking at more traffic than their Facebook page may have generated in a year.

And that doesn’t count the thousands of responses to the post (like this) that generate traffic as well.

In other words, they realized that the greatest value their Facebook page held for their goals was the PR and traffic generation value of deleting it altogether.

Follow Suit?
I’ll spell out my reasons for this prediction later, but I believe before the end of the 2015/16 season at least one ski resort will have deleted their Facebook page.

They’ll do it for a long list of reasons, but I don’t think they can, or should, do it right now.

Resorts haven’t yet mastered the ability of creating not just share-worthy content but shareworthy content that directly drives their goals. Facebook hasn’t yet put enough favor on people posts over brand posts which means resorts are still getting enough free value as is.

But if Copyblogger is any example, as resorts dial in their content efforts and the Facebook landscape continues to shift toward paid…well…hold on, cause it’s gonna be a crazy ride.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.