Wednesday, April 27, 2011

If it isn't a person, it shouldn't have a profile

Alright, it's time to discuss the abuse of profiles on Facebook. A profile should be a person. That is why they ask for funny things like first/last names and birthdays and hometowns and relationship statuses. They're people. The reason pages exist is for companies and organizations. I understand the appeal of setting up an account for an organization.
Employees/members wouldn't be distracted by friends if they are signed in as the organization
The organization could comment on posts and "like" feed stories
You can send personal messages
OK, that's really it.

The reason Pages does not allow for PMs and comments is because it is an invasion of privacy. If you do not know the person, should you really be sending them Personal Messages? Yes, I know that they accepted you. But it is still intrusive.

That being said, I foresee Pages have the ability to Like and Comment on Feed Stories in the future. I have no reason to believe that besides the new "Use Facebook as" Feature. But even that shows you why you should be using Pages. You can write on the wall of other Pages with this feature. The whole structure of Pages is set up to accommodate organizations and businesses.

Positives of Pages:
Liking is quick and easy
Works well with Places (checking in)
Opportunity for Deals

Facebook Insights (use them, people!)
Links up with Google Maps and Google pages related to the story
Reviews
Many employees/members can Admin the Page

See all of those positives? Now stop making profiles called Starbucks InTheStudentUnion.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

"Maybe" is not an invitation for harassment

If you are trying to convince a friend to see a movie with you, and they respond, "maybe," you will likely ask them again in a few days. But facebook is a little different. First of all, if you are using a Fan Page to create events, you are already better off. You do not have the option of messaging all of your guests. Also, it looks more professional (I will not stop saying this) to come from an official page than a random user. But if for whatever reason, you are still using personal pages to create large scale events, you can still Message All Guests. Just because you can does not mean you should. I can walk into a bank and light the contents of the vault on fire. That doesn't mean I should. There are very few situations that warrant all-guest messages. A last-second reminder is appropriate. Notice that I said "a." That means one. Do not send one a day for the week leading up to the event. Also, remember that any changes you make to the event will send notifications to attendees. If you change the time of the event, you do not need to message the guests to let them know it happened. They know. But the single worst abuse of Message All Guests is the use of Message All "Maybe" Guests. If a person marks "maybe," you are right in thinking they will probably forget it is happening. But sending them a reminder is only going to upset the bulk of them. Those who were planning on attending but marked "maybe" will now consider not attending. Those who forgot or weren't planning on coming still will not attend. And those who were on the fence the whole time will be irritated and swing towards the negative side. Guests do not want a stranger harassing them on facebook. Just don't do it.