We have great news! Playing in Puddles’ Facebook page is back! Facebook and the Australian Government entered into further negotiations last week and early this morning (Friday 26 February) Facebook turned all “news” platforms back on. So Playing in Puddles can once again post on Facebook and everyone can again share “news” links. 

Didn’t know anything had gone down? Read on to understand what happened last week.

The below information was written on Friday 19 February 2021

If you’re thinking Playing in Puddles has gone a little quiet in your Facebook newsfeed, you’d be right: unfortunately, Playing in Puddles, along with all Australian news/media and entertainment sites, has been caught up in the standoff between Facebook and the Australian Government.

What’s going down? Well, Facebook doesn’t like the Australian Government’s proposed new media-bargaining code (which passed through the House of Representatives on Wednesday night), and they’ve decided to flex their muscles in response.

On Thursday 18 February, Facebook made some dramatic changes: all newsmakers and publishers have been restricted from posting content, and all Australians have been banned from seeing local and international news stories on Facebook.

And it’s not just the large news corporations (such as the ABC and the SMH) that have been impacted: Playing in Puddles’ Facebook page has been suspended too, along with many of our clients and media friends. The net by Facebook has been flung very wide, and businesses such as the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Sydney arts centre Carriageworks and Darling Harbour bar Cargo have also seen their Facebook pages suspended.

You can read Facebook’s official statement on why they have done this, here.

Sadly, this means that for the moment you can’t view Playing in Puddles’ Facebook posts on new parks, cafe openings, kids classes or family fun: it’s all a little crazy, isn’t it!

This is obviously a bit of a kick to the guts and we’ll be working with all of the local businesses we support (and who support us) to continue to share all of the wonderful work and services they offer. Our Facebook might be down, but we’ll keep delivering the best of the Coast to you across our other platforms until this is all sorted out.

The GOOD NEWS is that you don’t need Facebook to find us. Playing in Puddles is first and foremost a website: and you can still discover the best of the Central Coast right here on www.playinginpuddles.com.au.

There are many ways you can connect with Playing in Puddles!


Subscribe to Playing in Puddles’ fortnightly newsletter

Every fortnight, we send out a newsletter sharing our latest features on new parks, cafe reviews, bushwalks, kids classes, competitions, local businesses, events and more. It gets delivered straight to your inbox (and Marky-Mark Zuck has no control over whether you see it), so we reckon this old-skool approach is about to become the new skool! Embrace it and subscribe below!

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Follow us on Instagram

Despite being owned and run by Facebook, Instagram is still working! (Yeah, we’re scratching our heads over that one too). If you wanna stay social, follow us on Insta @playinginpuddles.

Bookmark these pages!

Here are some pages to bookmark, so that you can quickly find what you’re looking for:

Visit Playing in Puddles’ Website Homepage to See Our Latest News

Playing in Puddles was created to enable Central Coast families to connect, engage and learn about all that’s available to them in the community. We’re a small, family-run business, and we also support and enable a large network of local small businesses to thrive and grow by sharing all that they offer. You can continue to support us – and them – by coming directly to our website to get your information. We’ll continue to deliver the same fantastic news that you love right here, and you won’t have to scroll past random memes of cats to get it! 🙂

Playing in Puddles’ founding editor Katie Stokes. Local business owner, travel writer, mum to two, red-lippie wearer and Margarita sipper.
Click here to learn more about Playing in Puddles