State Department Spent Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars on Facebook 'Likes'

Guess they never tried posting more gifs and memes

Ostensibly web-savvy State Department employees spent $630,000 to earn more Facebook "likes," in an effort that struggled to reach its target audience, according to a searing Inspector General's report from May. 

Between 2011 and March 2013, the department's Bureau of the International Information Programs, tried to boost the seeming popularity of the department's Facebook properties by advertising and page improvements. But the results weren't so good, leaving the Inspector General with no choice but to send a frank message to the bureau's Facebook gurus: You're doing it wrong.

"Many in the bureau criticize the advertising campaigns as 'buying fans' who may have once clicked on an ad or 'liked' a photo but have no real interest in the topic and have never engaged further," reads the Inspector General report.