Not everyone likes this Facebook 'like' campaign

A campaign by an Israeli city on Facebook to raise money for the needy took an unexpected turn – and revealed that Israelis may not be as sophisticated on social media matters as they think

Once upon a time, in the days of Herman Munster, Lucy and Ricky, and “the Skipper” of Gilligan’s Island fame (ie, the 60s), sociologists used to explain television’s dumb-ness with an axiom: “TV is in its infancy.” Looking back, it’s pretty clear those sociologists were right. And in 2012, the city fathers of Kfar Sava may be forgiven for thinking that social networking in Israel is in its infancy – after having “gone through hell” over the past few days, as one city official told me, over the snide and sniping reaction to a Facebook campaign the city organized in order to help the needy of the community.

You really have to especially feel sorry for Assaf Marciano, who is in charge of social networking and internet issues for the municipality. The idea was actually simple: Marshal the resources of a local mall to raise money for organizations that provide assistance for needy residents of Kfar Sava, located in central Israel.

In cooperation with the Arim Mall in the city, the municipality set up a link on its Facebook page. For everyone who clicked on a “Like” on the page, the mall would donate one shekel to one of the organizations taking part in the campaign (the donations were handled by the mall’s community relations office, which has been working with local social service groups for well over a decade). “It’s never been easier to help the needy,” the Facebook page said. “Your Like is worth a shekel for those in need.”

It’s hard to imagine a less controversial cause, even in Israel, where controversy flows like milk and honey. But at least half a dozen Hebrew-language web sites jumped on the campaign, slamming it for “cynically taking advantage of the needy in order to generate Facebook likes for profit” and comparing the campaign to a “reality show” where the needy were forced to “perform” for donations, and accusing the municipality of trying to get out of its obligations to the city’s needy by offloading its obligations to outside organizations. Readers who left comments on the article were equally uncomplimentary.

The “business” aspect of the campaign – where the mall would ostensibly benefit from the Likes, for the low, low cost of a shekel apiece seemed to be especially difficult for many of the commenters to swallow. Considering, though, that the Likes were given on the city’s web page, it wasn’t exactly clear how the mall would “cash in” on the campaign.

Marciano is still a bit stunned at the reaction. “The whole point was to give city residents a way to get involved with social causes, providing a very easy way to donate to the poor. This is actually just the first of a number of social media campaigns we are planning on numerous issues in conjunction with businesses, organizations, and volunteer groups, for the benefit of city residents.” That the naysayers were only a small minority of those who heard about the campaign, says Marciano, is evidenced by the fact that the site garnered some 1,600 Likes in the first three days of its operation.

Considering that campaigns like these are quite common on Facebook – tens of millions of dollars have been raised in the U.S. for all sorts of causes using similar methods, such as aid for victims of the tsunami in Japan last year – it’s surprising that Israelis would have such a negative view of the campaign. Israelis are actually the most active group worldwide on social networks, and the failure to understand or appreciate the purpose and method of this campaign is a bit “surprising,” says Marciano.

Or maybe not so surprising. A source in City Hall who asked not to be named had some uncomplimentary things to say about the media, which, apparently, was having a “slow” news day and wanted to rile up the internet crowd. “No one bothered to ask us the basic questions that would have explained what we were doing,” said the source. “The term ‘provincialism’ comes to mind. It’s been hell here the past few days, fielding the nasty comments and calls. Some people are sorely lacking in basic reading skills – and manners, it would seem.”