As I wrote this post I was feeling incredibly discouraged. I try to keep this space fun and full of jokes even if it is often negative. I enjoy critiquing shows and telling you how I feel. For those who don’t know, Facebook and the Australian government were recently in talks about whether Facebook should pay Aussie news outlets to show their articles and videos. This resulted in a flat ban of news on Australian Facebook. However, it appears this was not done in a fair way for others. The impacts of this decision reach further. I am a small blogger. I recognize my reach is not far and I cannot stand at this point on my own. I have made countless Facebook ads to reach a wider audience and be able to share my content. However, I was stopped from doing this. My independent blog on TV shows has been blocked as a part of the ban. I am told that Facebook has agreed to take this back, but that does not change the impact to me or give me any comfort.

I am a creator with just over 30 Facebook followers, approximately 120 Instagram and 180 TikTok followers. But I am now unable to post my blogs on Facebook because they considered me under the news ban. As of today this is still true.

I have spent since August 2020 consistently writing blogs posting at least 1 a week. This will be my 33th post. I have spent my own money during this time on getting my domain and website, making ads, getting graphics etc. I have poured hours into creating every post for you guys. To date I have not made a single cent on this blog, which is fine. You may see my posts as only a few minutes read, but for me there is hours and hours behind finding every image, watching the shows to find what to write, re-watching to make sure I’m not missing things, skimming whole seasons at a time of shows, finding images, editing and sharing to social media. All while I am a full time student getting my degree. The majority of my views come from Facebook. I feel as though this ban has incredibly impacted me and my ability to create and share my content. I recognize I can maintain use of my other social media platforms but those have proven less effective for me.

While I write these blogs for myself, having not made a single cent on it, I want to share them, I want other people to be able to read them and this just has me concerned and confused. I am not a news outlet, but I had been blocked which made me, unable to grow. All creators want their audience to grow, they want to share and reach people.

I want to make these blogs, I write them because I enjoy it and I hope other people enjoy them too. It can just be very discouraging knowing my work building up a Facebook page and spending this money is going backward.

This really has me wondering what my next steps will be…

So what can you do to help?

It would greatly help me if any of you who read my posts, follow my TikTok, Facebook or Instagram could follow my blog with your email down below. This will mean if I upload you will receive an email with a link and with the entire post in the email which can be read from there. You do not have to read all of them, you can ignore them but by following I know my audience is getting notified about my posts. It would really support me if you would consider signing up to emails. The same goes for other small creators you may occasionally watch, view or read their stuff. Supporting them is the most secure way for them to create.

I am extremely glad that Facebook and the Aussie Government were able to come to an agreement, however, following directly via email will ensure that if issues persist in the future I will still be able to reach readers.

Thank you to everyone who had supported and continues to support me and this blog. I will be keeping it going but I will have to think about whether there are more beneficial platforms or formats for these blogs. Thank you especially to those on Monday who supported me while I found out my platform had been blocked and shared my annoyance and outrage.