It seems that Facebook is implementing a new policy where you can't make people like your page in order to get something free. This will most likely change how the digiscrap world operates on facebook. Click here to find out more.
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on another note I wasn't exactly sure of where this post should go as it could apply also in the Freebies Forums and the Digital Scrapbook discussion.
I am surprised but I kind of like this idea. I hated how my feeds page would get bogged down by pages I had forgotten I had even "liked" only to get a freebie or coupon, etc. I would often try to go through and cull my "liked" list, but it got to be quite the upkeep. I know there were a lot of frustrations for awhile about how those businesses would then get people to see their posts; I would often see something come up in my feed from a business stating that FB had changed its algorithm about exposure & please like this status if you can see it, etc. With the fan-gating, just because someone has "liked" your page, it doesn't ACTUALLY ensure that your posts get seen, especially when every business does it -- peoples' feeds would get so over-saturated, there's no way they'd see it all. It creates a false sense of customer base, which can be hurtful to the business owner who doesn't try varied ways to get the word out. They rely on a number of likes which ultimately misrepresents their marketing.
I know I may not be popular in this, but I support the idea that article you linked states in that it will put more emphasis on Facebook advertising. I realize that for small local businesses, social media offers an economic way to get marketing out there. However, if you're using it and find it valuable, then isn't it worth paying for? I doubt that the expense would be astronomical, but I've never run an ad, so I could be wrong.
I haven't read the article, but I have mixed feelings about the new policy but for the most part approve of it. From a digiscrap collectors point of view
I'm glad that I now don't have to like someone's page if they are offering a freebie that I want. I rarely go to facebook and 99% of the time if someone on a blog train offers their portions on facebook and you have to like their page (or pay by tweet or sign up in their store to get it), I just skip by it. Its not free if you have to do that to get it.
Now, from the view point of a designer... I do understand the need to building that marketing base and attract potential customers. But I also know that having 1000 people like your page just to get a freebie and making 1 or 2 sales from it isn't going to build your business. Building the repeat customer base is where the money's at.
So I think, overall, I also support this change.
This news I am also mixed about, but I didn't hear of this until after I decided to host my blog trains on my website instead of on Facebook. I had no end of trouble with FB tabs, and on my website I can ask them to join my mailing list, instead of just "liking" my page. The way FB pages work any more, no one sees most of what I post anyhow, but when I send out newsletters, those have a better chance of being seen by customers who want to see it, and if they don't they can unsubscribe. I didn't like how around blog train time my likes would jump up and down and up and down... it was a headache.
I'm saying this solely as a scrapper and/or collector... so take my opinion with a grain of salt but I imagine (as a biz major in college) at least 1/2 your customer base feels the same as I do. I too have mixed feelings... with that said, I don't necessarily mind liking a FB page or signing up for a newsletter or even having to become a member of your store to download (IF I really love the items you have). However, when every Jane Doe & Susie Smith scrap designer make me sign up just to download stuff for a "blog train" freebie to "TRY" you out for the first time... it can get overwhelming, annoying, and frustrating.
I am NOW a "liker" of over 960 digital designers, stores, blogs, & what-not on FB... Note: some of these are for quilting, sewing, & silhoutte/wishblade sites, too. But I NEVER ever, ever, go to FB anymore just to read posts! So, I miss ALL of their posts no matter if they paid for ads or not. So, money is being wasted by store owners in my opinion if you think this is a good investment for your business. Just my 2 cents worth, though.
Also, with everyone making me sign up for newsletters over the past couple years, I now get at LEAST 75-100 emails a day (easy!) from all kinds of online digi SB stores (as this seems to be the most newsletter crazy group (approx 3/wk from most stores)_I do mean this in the most loving way, not being critical). But to put this in perspective, I only get about 10-20 a week from quilt, cameo, & IRL stores... so the digital scrapping way of keeping up with things has become TOO MUCH work for me. Needless to say, I don't read about 90% of what comes into my email account anymore.
I honestly loved back when I could just have a great RSS reader and only have to watch blogs that I labeled in certain categories and when there was a NEW post, but even now with blogs posting ONCE a day to hock their wares, it is way too much work now to try to keep up with the well loved ones much less find new designers unless I specifically NEED a certain kit.
Another thing that makes it NOT fun is that I can't spend 8 hours every day looking for "specials" or "freebies" and with the more common 24 hr time limits for a download. Because when I DO have free time to look/hunt for them, they are usually Expired only adding to my frustration.
All that said, I honestly don't know what a good solution for advertisement is for digital designers anymore can be but I do know with the overwhelming, over bombardment of advertisements and the prices not being much cheaper than paper scrapping. I myself have retreated a tad from the pressure.
I know the price issue of ($6-9/avg) kit cost most will disagree with me on. My opinion is I'm not one to re-use a kit that many times... maybe 2-3 layouts the most (unless a giant and very versatile kit) and I do print my layouts to put in my physical scrapbooks for my family to see them. So digital ends up costing me more in the long run "per layout" than paper scrapping does now-a-days.
The reason I bring the money topic up in this post is that "paying for FB ads" is only going to cause you to have to charge me more in the end for a kit (because you have to cover your expenses). And that's going to make it less appealing to people the more prices per kit increase and slow digi sb profits down even more. To me it's just something to think about when considering the viability (of FB costs & returns) for your biz.
Sorry... so long... I just hate that the way things are going may change the impact of digital scrapping forever as we know it if the industry doesn't come together as a whole with a more cost effective solution for advertising. There's still an almost 7% unemployment rate across the US and a lot of scrappers live on limited incomes because let's face it most (a large %) of the memory keepers are SAHM, grandmothers, and/or at an age they can't just work an extra 10 hrs a week to make up the price difference for the things considered "extras/entertainment".
Hope my post is helpful and makes sense to you guys.
Oh, I don't "make" them sign up, I just ask them to. I completely understand where you are coming from. As a consumer, I have an email address I use for all my "newsletter" and "signup" type things, to keep my normal inbox clean and tidy. And people shouldn't have to charge more in order to cover advertising. If you have a good product, and you're advertising it, you should be selling enough of it to cover your costs, or you need to change how you do things. lol That's my view anyhow.
And I am one of those limited income people, so I hear you. I try to run sales and specials at prices I would be willing to pay for a kit of the same size and quality. I am a re-user though. There are some kits I go back to over and over again. But I still go out looking for more "cool stuff" to add to my collection when I can afford to buy it.
LoL Autumn... hindsight is 20/20 right? This is what I should have done! I may need to just break down and sacrifice my beloved email address and create a new "personal" one.
-- Guess this would be a GREAT tip for newbies. 
PS I'm glad I made sense to someone. I always worry as a consumer I may just sound like a complainer and I'm not... I whole-hardheartedly understand the dilemma all businesses are facing now-a-days, unfortunately. I just tend to be a numbers kind of girl... my minor was accounting... LoL
having that spare email address sure does help
And I may be a designer but I was a consumer first, and I still am a consumer. I have THE HARDEST time using my own kits, so when I scrap I still prefer to use the work of other designers. So I try to look at these types of situations from both sides. But yeah, you totally made sense 
This really upsets me. Because facebook is about the only way to limit pirating. When a pirater has to download something under a registered name it is rare that it happens because it can get back to them. It is why I don't like to post the whole thing on my blog. I use to do that and I would end up with my stuff all over the bootleg sites. But this is going to take away that ability of limiting.
I liked that article on Tradable bits blog about the matter. As I said before (on Facebook, LOL) I see how tragic it can be for people who rely on facebook for marketing and advertising, specially for the ones who relies on freebies to build their fan base on it, but, as a common person using facebook, I like it.
That is a great article about it, Lórien! Thanks for sharing it.
Very interesting perspective in the article. I think I agree with their opinion about it.
However, It is as Lorien says very nice to like the page as a end user and get the gift so easily.
I also didn't realize that it helped prevent pirating... as I'm still confused I guess on pirating. I have always saw this as when someone shares (for free or sell) a work of art as their own that is not their own creation. But I get the impression from the designers perspective sometimes just the act of stealing the product is pirating, too. ??? and in the case of movies or music, pirating is making a copy of it. I am truly perplexed by what is pirating... since to me the last two just seem like theft to me.
Piracy is theft. It is the illegal distribution of goods, generally digital. Taking someone's work and passing it of as your own is plagiarism.
I've never known Facebook to stop piracy. People can like and unlike pages just to do a freebie-drive-by. I have no idea who actually downloads from me that way. Now I use my blog, and require a name and email address to get to the download link. It's not 100% security, but I feel better about it than using Facebook.
I am actually glad Facebook is doing this. I had my newsfeed filled up with blogtrain designers I didn't even care for, even though I was getting more and more picky. I decided months ago to unlike everything and only like the designers I actually like! I like reading what they are up to and it is very refreshing to go to Facebook and read about what interests you for a change: liking just about everyone almost ruined that for me!
I totally agree with you on this, Melo!
I feel the same way. I liked a ton of blog train designers to try their work, and now my FB is bogged down with so much stuff I don't even remember liking.
I totally second your thoughts Melo, Kaleena, and Nicole!!! So, I'm kind of glad for the change too. I have deleted tons of people from my FB page.
Back down to only 150 ish close friends or LOVEs not LIKEs 
hahaha
Apparently not everyone is getting the message. There's still one or two saying to like my page to get a freebie. I'm so glad I never installed Tradeable Bits. Most of my posts on FB send folks back to my blog. I used my fan page to "like" others so my personal page didn't get filled up with thousands of posts I didn't want there. I figured that out after liking the first few from my personal page. Of course, FB is now throwing ads at me to buy their services. Not going there.
BTW, Shawna, thanks for locking the other topic. Starting a similar topic was unintentional.
I finally found the article on Fangating that I referred to in the other topic. Since it is written by and for the digiscrap business, designers and scrappers will find it interesting and informative.
Facebook Like Gating and Freebies in the Digiscrap Community
While I am on Facebook, I almost never go on it, and don't really know much about it. How do you "Unlike" a page you have previously "Like"d?
The way I've always done it, is you go to the page and hit the arrow beside 'like' and then choose 'unlike'. I know there is an easier way to do it, but I never use Facebook, so I have forgotten.
As an aside, for everyone who has mentioned how their newsfeeds get bogged down with stuff they're not interested, from all the fan-gating - you can unfollow a page when you like them on FB so they don't show in your newsfeed. Then, although you have still liked them, you have to actively go to their page to read their updates. The follow selection is automatically turned on, but it just takes one more click after you like the page to turn it off and help keep your newsfeed clean.
Alternatively, you could add those pages to an Interest List. Then all those updates would be in one place, but not on your main newsfeed.
That's crazy. That would be a big change! Thanks for the info and link.