Facebook pages can’t use @Everyone Anymore, here’s why this social media mentor is glad
This morning, Facebook Page owners across the UK woke up to find a key feature missing: the ability to tag @everyone or @followers in post comments.. gone, without warning. But for social media mentor Amanda Hughes, this silent change is a welcome one. “It was never a strategy,” she says. “I get why small business owners used it but more often than not it was actually hurting their reach” Amanda, who mentors small business owners through her top-rated podcast, bestselling planner and mentor group, says the feature did more harm than good, irritating followers and damaging page engagement.
Over the past year, the @everyone tag, originally intended for use within Facebook Groups, had been adopted by some business Pages as a way to push content into their followers notifications.
The idea was simple: if the algorithm wasn’t showing your post, tag all your followers in the comments to force visibility. But the result? A lot of eye rolls, and an increasing number of “unfollows”
“I've had dozens of small business owners message me saying they used the tag because it was the only way to get seen” says Amanda.
This week, however, business owners began reporting that the @followers tag no longer works. For many, it’s causing confusion, but Amanda sees it as an opportunity to shift gears.
“This is the wake-up call small businesses needed” she says. “You don’t need to tag 500 people to be seen. You need a strategy.”
In a blog post published the same morning the feature disappeared, Amanda breaks down what to do instead:
- Clarify your audience: Speak to one person, not ‘everyone’
- Post with purpose: Focus on attracting, nurturing, or converting followers
- Stop relying on hacks: Quality, focused content WILL get seen
The change arrives as Amanda’s mentorship group, Get Seen Get Sales: The Mentorship {https://www.amandahughes.uk/socialmediamentorgroup} continues to grow.
The group helps small business owners create social media content that builds connection, and converts.
“We talk about this stuff all the time,” she says. “Because gimmicks don’t build sustainable businesses. Good content does.”
Her advice to anyone panicking over the missing tag? “Your people don’t want to be chased, they want to feel chosen. If your content connects, they’ll see it. And if they don’t? That’s not a tagging issue, it’s a strategy one.”