A Facebook and Twitter Primer, Part 1

Posted: January 20th, 2010 | By: Steve Mullen | Filed under: Social Media Opinion | No Comments
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A client recently asked me to send him an email on how to use Twitter and Facebook.  I wrote him what amounts to “Facebook and Twitter 101″.  I don’t think he realized just how long this email was going to be.  When I completed the long email, it occurred to me that I could re-purpose this information into a two part blog post.  The first of those two parts is below.  Bear in mind when reading this that I’ve edited it somewhat, but it was originally written in more of an email format than a blog post format.

This isn’t a complete textbook on Facebook, nor was it meant to be.  It’s merely some information to get you started.  While you’re learning, please be sure to become a fan of EndGame PR on Facebook!

When you’re done reading this post be sure to read the sequel, A Facebook and Twitter Primer, Part 2!

A Primer on Facebook

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The general idea of social media, whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, on a blog, or somewhere else, is to provide something of value that people want to consume — whether it’s an article, blog post, video, audio, or something else.  Before launching a social media presence, think about what you’re going to do with it.  That may tell you which site is best suited for you, or that none of them are.

There are a few different types of Facebook presences:

  • The first type is the simple individual account. This is what you get when you sign up for the first time.  It’s primarily good for networking with people you know, and keeping in touch with old friends by becoming their Facebook “friend”. People generally don’t like to network with strangers on Facebook because one of the primary activities on Facebook is posting pictures of your kids, grandkids, house, car, vacations, etc. When you become a “friend” of someone, unless they’ve tinkered with their privacy settings, you can see all of their pictures and news about kids, grandkids, vacations, etc. People get nervous about showing these things to people they don’t know. I call this “Facebook Stranger Anxiety”. The other two types of Facebook presences (charted below) solve this stranger anxiety problem, but you MUST have an individual account to create either of the other two.
  • The second type of presence on Facebook is a Facebook Fan Page. While it looks like an individual account, it allows people to network with a company or cause without the administrator/owner of the page having to reveal pictures of his kids, grandkids, etc. to complete strangers. People who have elected to become “Fans” receive all news updates that posted on the page.
  • The third type of Facebook presence is a Facebook Group. For a variety of reasons, this is great for private organizations, but not great for publicizing a business.

Finding “friends” for an individual account on Facebook is relatively simple. With 350 million registered users, surely you know SOMEONE on the site! When you sign up, you can have Facebook hunt through your email address book and look for people you email who are already on the service. Additionally, you can search on Facebook for your high school, college, organization, or anything else, and surely find people you know. Once you’ve made a few friends, look at who they’ve “friended”. Chances are, you have a mutual friend.

When I launch a Fan Page (whether for myself or a client) the first thing I do after I’m finished is invite all of the “friends” from my individual account. The idea behind this is to start seeding the page. People who are friends of these friends may then learn about the Fan Page, and join as well.

What you post on Facebook depends upon what type of presence you’re talking about. On an individual account, if you’re not using it for business purposes, you can post anything you like. On a Fan Page, it’s best to stick to the topic. It’s NOT a place to advertise on a frequent basis.  That sort of thing will cause you to lose fans quickly.

The important thing to remember about Facebook is that it’s meant to be a community, while Twitter and LinkedIn more closely resemble networking events.  If you go to Facebook expecting that if you shout the loudest, more people will hear, you’ll soon learn that you’re using the wrong strategy.

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