Facebook shares on each of my posts dramatically decreasing – is there a prob?
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Hi Jeremey,
Is this problem across all WordPress sites? Is it the same problem as before? And if it’s sorted soon – which I hope it is – is this likely to keep happening?
Look forward to your reply.
Thanks Jeremey,
Zeena -
Hi all! We recently updated our Facebook share buttons because we were counting some shares twice.
Can you link me to a specific post that you’re seeing this happen on and the number you were seeing before?
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Hi Shawna,
This isn’t what Jeremey relayed? See above.
All my posts are wrong now but this is just one example:
https://zeenamoolla.wordpress.com/2014/10/29/7-types-of-mum-to-avoid-on-maternity-leave/
It was on 733 and now on 0.
My posts are all reading the same incorrect number that they were before Jeremey recently fixed the problem. He said it was because of the wrong version of my url? Not because Facebook shares were being counted twice?
Is this a problem across all WordPress sites? And, presuming the Facebook shares will be restored soon, is this likely to happen again?
Look forward to your reply,
Zeena -
I have been having precisely the same problem. First the stats on both facebook and twiitter dropped then they rose again and returned to their original numbers and beyond and then they dropped again. It has happened across so many posts but here are two examples:
This one had more than 450 facebook hits but is now is at 226.
show trial by television: Galloway was set up by BBC to be accused
This one had 42 but this has dropped to 25 and then 21.
My stats for twitter have also reduced at the very same time. -
https://cronicasdoenes.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/politicagem-queima-mais-do-que-o-fogo/ used to show 106 facebook shares, now just 53.
https://cronicasdoenes.wordpress.com/2015/01/01/ano-novo-vida-nova/ used to show 30 and now 15.
https://cronicasdoenes.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/errata-ao-comunicado-do-psd/ used to 8 and now 4.
Its the second time this has happened this month. Thanks.
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Hi Jeremey, hi Shawna,
Apologies to request an update regarding this – but is there anything you can relay at all? Is the problem likely to be rectified? Is this problem across all WordPress sites? Is this the same problem Jeremey cited before? My FB shares have dropped to exactly the same number as when the problem first occurred, so it would seem that it is the same problem?
Like I say, apologies to ask for an update but as this is the second time we’re experiencing this it would be good to know what’s going on.
Many thanks,
Zeena -
This is happening to my blog also. This post https://mastcellblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/canary/ used to have over 100 shares and is now down to 55.
This recent post had 32 Facebook shares, then a couple of days ago dropped to 19 and today is on 16: https://mastcellblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/22/sayings/
Jak
mastcellblog.wordpress.com -
Hi @franciscoenes,
Thanks for providing a few examples. Since my previous post (indicating that we summed the counts for HTTP + HTTPS), we’ve stopped the summing so shares to previous HTTP URLs will not be counted in the sharing buttons. We stopped summing the counts because it was leading to some duplicate counting. To recap, we were summing; we stopped (you noticed the issue); we started again; then, we stopped.
You can see the effects illustrated at the two following URLs:
You’ll see the sharing count for each URL (HTTP and HTTPS) is 4, which is why you saw 8 when we were summing. We will not be summing moving forward. Ideally, Facebook would fix this by migrating shares when it encounters a redirect. You can find a bit more explanation here:
@zeena2001 – Yes, this is the same issue described before. As mentioned above, we’ve stopped summing the counts for HTTP and HTTPS URLs. We will not resume the summing so you will only see sharing numbers attributed to the HTTPS version of your URL. The “fix” would need to come from the Facebook side as discussed previously.
@bertieandme – This is due to the same issue described to @franciscoenes above. You can see the summed total using the two following URLs:
https://graph.facebook.com/?id=http://mastcellblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/canary/
https://graph.facebook.com/?id=https://mastcellblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/canary/
The “55” number you’re seeing now is the “correct” number of shares for the HTTPS version of your URL.
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Hi Jeremey,
So effectively, and put simply, because of this change in url, we’ve all lost the Facebook shares we once had and there’s nothing we can do about it until Facebook decide to do something about this? Presuming they feel like doing something about this? And the ‘fix’ you put in place before was just a temporary fix?
Can I ask again, is this across all WordPress sites? And may I also ask, will this ever be resolved?
Look forward hearing from you soon,
Zeena
Sent from my iPhone -
Hi Zeena,
We’ve all lost the Facebook shares we once had and there’s nothing we can do about it until Facebook decide to do something about this?
To be clear, the shares aren’t “lost.” They’re just not displayed alongside the icon. Facebook still recognizes that the HTTP version of your URL was shared X number of times.
You are correct; the sharing numbers attributed to HTTP URLs will not be shown in the count alongside the icon. You will only see sharing numbers attributed to HTTPS URLs. For old posts (before we forced all .wordpress.com URLs to HTTPS), this may mean your sharing count will decrease. For new posts (since the force to HTTPS), you shouldn’t notice a difference.
There’s nothing we can do about it until Facebook decide to do something about this?
Correct – The only “fix” would need to come from the Facebook side.
Can I ask again, is this across all WordPress sites?
This affects all .wordpress.com URLs. If you have a .wordpress.com site address that existed before we shifted those URLs to HTTPS, you’ll likely experience this sharing drop.
Sites with custom domains will not be affected since they’re not forced to HTTP. One note of clarification, purchasing a custom domain for your site at this point would not help the situation. You would actually lose all sharing numbers because the sharing icon would load shares for your custom domain (zero when you first purchase it). I’m only referring to sites that have had a custom domain for quite awhile. They will not notice any discrepancy due to the recent changes.
And may I also ask, will this ever be resolved?
We’re hoping that this is fixed from the Facebook side! We are in touch with them to hopefully find a resolution that works. However, I don’t have a timeframe for you.
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Hi,
Thank you for this thread!
I noticed this week that ALL my Facebook shares disappeared from every one of my blog posts!
When I’ve switched button style, it shows that every other sharing button works (Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc pops up a sharing window), however the Facebook one only displays “likes” now, and doesn’t allow for viewers to share. It simply adds a “Like”. So NOT GOOD!
Please keep us in the loop – thanks for all you shared so far. At least I know I’m not the only one experiencing this. Shares on a blog post count for a LOT, so to see them all vanish is a real bummer.
My own blog is at:
http://www.sacredearthconnection.comThanks!
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Hi Jetemey,
Thanks for the reply. If it’s OK thought I’d reply in a similar way for ease…
“To be clear, the shares aren’t “lost.” They’re just not displayed alongside the icon. Facebook still recognizes that the HTTP version of your URL was shared X number of times.”
But I’m not sure of what benefit it is that Facebook still recognises the correct number of shares if it’s not displayed correctly in the icon? Someone reading the post won’t know the correct number? For whatever reason – personal or professional – it matters to WordPress members that the social media shares are reflected correctly.
“You are correct; the sharing numbers attributed to HTTP URLs will not be shown in the count alongside the icon. You will only see sharing numbers attributed to HTTPS URLs. For old posts (before we forced all .wordpress.com URLs to HTTPS), this may mean your sharing count will decrease. For new posts (since the force to HTTPS), you shouldn’t notice a difference.”
So when you ‘fixed’ the problem the first time, did you always know it was just a temporary fix? Because to be honest, this wasn’t made clear. Also, while it’s great it won’t affect new posts, but like the others on this thread, I worked really hard on those old posts under the old url and those Facebook shares reflected that.
“The only “fix” would need to come from the Facebook side.”
So can you elaborate as to what exactly is Facebook doing about this? Is this problem just between WordPress and Facebook, or is this problem more widespread, given its a problem on ‘the Facebook side’? And is there any indication how this problem might be resolved?
“Sites with custom domains will not be affected since they’re not forced to HTTP. One note of clarification, purchasing a custom domain for your site at this point would not help the situation. You would actually lose all sharing numbers because the sharing icon would load shares for your custom domain (zero when you first purchase it). I’m only referring to sites that have had a custom domain for quite awhile. They will not notice any discrepancy due to the recent changes.”
So, essentially, just the free sites were affected? Those who paid for their sites were not affected? Why, when these new urls were introduced, weren’t WordPress.com users informed – or better still, given a choice? Because, to be honest again, given the lack of communication and no real resolution offered, it feels a little like we’re not particularly a priority.
“We’re hoping that this is fixed from the Facebook side! We are in touch with them to hopefully find a resolution that works. However, I don’t have a timeframe for you.”
Again, it would be nice to know what’s going on specifically from ‘the Facebook side’. Perhaps a representative from Facebook could offer more detail via you?
Once again, thank you for getting back to us. But I am hoping with your next response, you’re able to offer something a little more reassuring and specific.
Zeena
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however the Facebook one only displays “likes” now, and doesn’t allow for viewers to share. It simply adds a “Like”. So NOT GOOD!
This is due to a bit of an unrelated change. We recently updated the official sharing button for Facebook. Visitors will now only see the “Share” option and not a “Like” option.
For whatever reason – personal or professional – it matters to WordPress members that the social media shares are reflected correctly.
I definitely understand, and I’m sorry that the HTTP shares will not be displayed in the sharing button. As of right now, I don’t have a solution for this issue. As mentioned previously, the fix would need to come from Facebook.
So when you ‘fixed’ the problem the first time, did you always know it was just a temporary fix? Because to be honest, this wasn’t made clear. Also, while it’s great it won’t affect new posts, but like the others on this thread, I worked really hard on those old posts under the old url and those Facebook shares reflected that.
The intended way forward was to remove the summing of HTTP and HTTPS counts for a few reasons, mainly to reduce the duplication of counts. When we adjusted this behavior and you noticed the issue originally, we reverted to our previous behavior of summing temporarily while we worked out a better solution to stop summing. I apologize if this was made unclear. Moving forward, we will not be summing the counts.
So can you elaborate as to what exactly is Facebook doing about this? Is this problem just between WordPress and Facebook, or is this problem more widespread, given its a problem on ‘the Facebook side’? And is there any indication how this problem might be resolved?
Honestly, I’m not sure how many clients are affected by this issue. I also can’t elaborate on exactly what Facebook would need to do to fix this (I don’t have transparency into their operation), but the gist would be that they would migrate sharing counts for the HTTP URL when they encounter a permanent redirect. Since we permanently redirect HTTP to HTTPS, they would effectively migrate the sharing numbers as well.
So, essentially, just the free sites were affected? Those who paid for their sites were not affected? Why, when these new urls were introduced, weren’t WordPress.com users informed – or better still, given a choice? Because, to be honest again, given the lack of communication and no real resolution offered, it feels a little like we’re not particularly a priority.
Correct – just free sites were affected by the HTTP to HTTPS transition. Since we don’t offer SSL certs for custom domains, those that pay for custom domains are not forced to HTTPS. We wanted to make this switch for several reasons (security, potential boost in SEO, etc). We will not be providing an opportunity to choose between HTTP and HTTPS for your .wordpress.com URL.
Perhaps a representative from Facebook could offer more detail via you?
Once again, thank you for getting back to us. But I am hoping with your next response, you’re able to offer something a little more reassuring and specific.
I definitely understand your concern. We’re in communication with Facebook Engineers about how this could work better in the future. However, I don’t have transparency into the exact inner workings at Facebook that would make this work. I apologize. For now, I can assure you that they’re aware of the issue; we’re working to find a way that could make this work; and, I’ll keep you update as soon as I hear more.
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All,
If I understand the above correctly than my older shares (http) are no longer counted but any new shares (https) should be counted? Unfortunately this means I have lost 2 years of asking customers for a share on the home page counter of my 2 woocommerce shops: the Facebook counters on VeiligeVoeten as well as HoorspelVerzameling are both back to zero unfortunately… I would strongly prefer the double count solution? :-)
But that is not just it, I do not see any increase from new shares either, even if I do them personally to be fully sure that they are done… Is that a known issue as well? And is there something I can do to fix that? Or is there a Plugin that you advise me to use?
Many thanks in advance, kind regards, Wouter
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If I understand the above correctly than my older shares (http) are no longer counted but any new shares (https) should be counted?
That’s mostly correct. To clarify a bit more, HTTP shares are still “counted.” They’re just not included alongside the sharing button at WordPress.com. If someone shares the HTTP version of your URL, Facebook still records the share, but you will not see that number reflected at WordPress.com. We will not be going back to summing the HTTP and HTTPS counts.
Is that a known issue as well? And is there something I can do to fix that? Or is there a Plugin that you advise me to use?
Thanks for the report. This is an issue that we’re aware of and working to fix!
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Again the shares button FB and twitter does not reflect the correct number: It is decreasing dramatically: It happens almost every day for the last” weeks. Do you have any solution on that?
It is important to be able to see the number of shares/likes on these buttons: The blog I need help for is: pepore.wordpress.com -
Hi @pepore,
I believe this is actually two separate issues:
1. Facebook shares
If you’ve recently noticed a decrease in Facebook shares, I believe it’s due to the HTTP/HTTPS issue discussed earlier in this thread. I explained this further in this post:
For example, the number of Facebook shares reported on this post (15) corresponds with the number of shares Facebook reports for your HTTPS URL:
Facebook reports 15 shares for the HTTP version of your URL as well:
Previously, you may have seen 30 next to the sharing icon (sum of HTTP and HTTPS). Now, you will only see the HTTPS total (15).
2. Twitter shares
This would be mostly unrelated to the changes mentioned above. Twitter caches their sharing counts, which means that the icon may just take some time to update. Can you keep an eye on this over the next 1-2 days and let me know if the counts start appearing for Twitter? I’ll make a note to follow-up as well.
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Thank you Jeremey – if understood correct even if now Ibuy my free wordpress site and become a “client” not only i’m not going to gain back the “lost” shares/likes but i’m going to loose also those left :) right?
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