The invention of social networking sites over the last several years has hit the world by storm. If the average person has not heard of these numerous websites, they are probably living in the Dark Ages. As mentioned in the first part of this series, one of the most popular to come down the pipe is www.facebook.com. According to their website, Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers. Focusing on actual communication with people, instead of the endless personal webpage accessory and customization utilized by the competition, Facebook’s popularity and membership grows exponentially each month.
Probably the most advantageous facet of Facebook is its use in business applications, especially for corporate communication and public relations. Enter the Facebook Fanpage: a way for an entity to not only communicate news, events, advertising and a message; but also track demographic metrics in monitoring who is interested in their establishment. With a fan-page, the possibilities are endless in terms of communicating information to a very wide audience.
For the layman, the basic premise of Facebook is quite simple. A user has a “Wall” for communication of messages, pictures, web links and videos between people and organizations. It is a simple time-descending news feed that is updatable day or night, with the option of fans to comment. For example, if the administrator of the page wanted to update on a company event, they could type a message detailing who, what, when etc. This will then show up on all fan news feeds of the entity. Above the “Wall” are several tabs used for information. These tabs entail subject matter as follows: Info, Photos, Discussions and Events. The Info tab gives basic information such as address, phone number etc. The Photos tabs detail all of the photos posted on Facebook, and also includes any fan photos. With the Discussions tab, there is an option for fans to discuss topics in an internet message board fashion. By posting a topic, others can comment and share their experiences. The Events tab is a customizable calendar used to track events the organization host. Other types of tabs are also available for customization.
On the page, there are also permanent ways to communicate information that won’t be on a descending feed. On the left-hand column there are several features. The most important is posting links. A section box is available to post links to web addresses to connect to the entity website, press releases and such of that nature. The box shows the top three links, with an option to see more. Below the links box, is another box detailing events. Fans can go to the Events tab mentioned prior to see the full list.
When using a fan page as an administrator, an ever larger amount of options are open. Facebook offers full demographic information on all of the fans that joined the page. The site keeps track of age groups, gender, top geographic locations and even page viewership in forms of percentages. With these tools at the hands of a public relations professional, the possibilities are endless to use in conjunction with the entity website and other communications networks.
Once learned and a fanpage is created, it can be quite a tool for any public relations professional. Other than Twitter, Facebook is the fastest growing social networking site on the internet. With over 300 million users, and at least 50% of users logging in every day, the website is a powerhouse (Ref www.facebook.com). It is highly suggested an entity fan-page run in tandem with the website homepage. Posting dual links on both pages should increase over-all viewership. Posting pictures, press releases, event benefits, exhibits, workshops etc. can all be main focus points for the page. The only thing limiting it is the administrator’s imagination. It is also highly suggested for fan-page optimization that a dedicated professional be able to update on a daily basis or at the very least every other day.
Stay tuned for the next installment on social networking for Public Relations professionals: Twitter!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Facebook: A PR Professional’s Best Tool (Part 1)
If someone had asked me approximately seven months ago if http://www.facebook.com/ could reshape the way I thought about social networking, I would claim they were crazy. At that point, http://www.myspace.com/ was my bread and butter. I was obviously still well below the power curve. By starting work at a new company, I came under peer pressure as everyone seemed to use Facebook. Always stubborn, I rebelled against it, saying it was a passing fad. Finally after about a month, I caved to see what the entire hubbub was about. My eyes became open to an entire new world of possibilities in efficient ways of world communication. Gone were the juvenile and obsolete ways still in use by Myspace. Gone were super-personalized pages that ate up so much computer memory that you couldn’t even scroll down.
Facebook took the best part of social networking and made it the focus: communication. Where Myspace allows a customizable page laden with graphics, slideshows, games and things I don’t even deem understandable, Facebook uses a central “Wall” features as the basis. For those in the Stone Age, Facebook defines on their website as: founded in February 2004, Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers. The company develops technologies that facilitate the sharing of information through the social graph, the digital mapping of people's real-world social connections. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment (Ref: http://www.facebook.com/).
The website focuses on people communicating with people! Sounds pretty complex, right? The general layout of a Facebook page is quite simple and easy to understand. A user has a “Wall” for communication of messages, pictures, web links and videos between people and organizations. The basic premise is a simple time-descending news feed that is updatable day or night, with the option of others to comment. By taking away the frills and customization out of the picture, users are able to focus on what is important; conveying direct messages to others. I bought it hook, line and sinker after learning this in the first hour of using the site.
In fact, my usage of http://www.myspace.com/ trickled to almost nothing, and I ended up deleting my personal page a few months later. The website is now my primary medium of communicating between friends and acquaintances. The sheer amount of people using the website is quite astronomical with over 300 million users, and over 50% logging in every day (Ref: www.facebook.com). I found people from elementary school, or others I served on active duty with in the military over a decade ago. Facebook is catching like wildfire! But wait, there is more. Facebook has other practical applications that apply to the more business-oriented person or company: the fan page. Through the use of the fan page, a business entity can communicate news, events, advertising and their general message; but also track fan demographic metrics in monitoring who is interested in the establishment. In terms of applying this to my chosen profession of public relations/public affairs, the site is a godsend from the angels on high.
Stay tuned for part II of this article detailing how Facebook is used on the professional level!
Facebook took the best part of social networking and made it the focus: communication. Where Myspace allows a customizable page laden with graphics, slideshows, games and things I don’t even deem understandable, Facebook uses a central “Wall” features as the basis. For those in the Stone Age, Facebook defines on their website as: founded in February 2004, Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers. The company develops technologies that facilitate the sharing of information through the social graph, the digital mapping of people's real-world social connections. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment (Ref: http://www.facebook.com/).
The website focuses on people communicating with people! Sounds pretty complex, right? The general layout of a Facebook page is quite simple and easy to understand. A user has a “Wall” for communication of messages, pictures, web links and videos between people and organizations. The basic premise is a simple time-descending news feed that is updatable day or night, with the option of others to comment. By taking away the frills and customization out of the picture, users are able to focus on what is important; conveying direct messages to others. I bought it hook, line and sinker after learning this in the first hour of using the site.
In fact, my usage of http://www.myspace.com/ trickled to almost nothing, and I ended up deleting my personal page a few months later. The website is now my primary medium of communicating between friends and acquaintances. The sheer amount of people using the website is quite astronomical with over 300 million users, and over 50% logging in every day (Ref: www.facebook.com). I found people from elementary school, or others I served on active duty with in the military over a decade ago. Facebook is catching like wildfire! But wait, there is more. Facebook has other practical applications that apply to the more business-oriented person or company: the fan page. Through the use of the fan page, a business entity can communicate news, events, advertising and their general message; but also track fan demographic metrics in monitoring who is interested in the establishment. In terms of applying this to my chosen profession of public relations/public affairs, the site is a godsend from the angels on high.
Stay tuned for part II of this article detailing how Facebook is used on the professional level!
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