Yes, it’s come to this.
As much as I avoid using Facebook, now that it’s populated with in-laws, relatives and people I barely remember from when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and has become a sore spot of social obligation, it has become an indispensable tool for marketing and engagment.
Blech.
I know, this is the same guy who droned on and on about Facebook a couple years ago, but as a wise man (@cdixon) once said and another man shared (@ppedrazzi), you have to use social services to understand them.
My understanding of Facebook is very 2008, and so, I feel obligated to modernize it by creating a page for us. So, I give you the AppsLab page on Facebook.
For now, it’s not really doing much other than reposting content from here and therefore, further fracturing the discussion. I’m semi-open to suggestions about what we sh/could do with it in the future.
And maybe when finally FriendFeed kicks the bucket, we’ll replace it with Facebook in the contact us widget.
Find the comments with your suggestions, reactions, etc.
Update: Also added a Like button, but I can’t figure out where the likes go. They’re not showing on Facebook in my News Feed, so hmm. Ideas? I may need to try a bit harder at this.
I’m still way behind the times..
I use facebook to keep in touch with friends, linkedIn for work and google reader for collecting updates.
I still don’t understand corporate facebook I see company’s like Casio jump onto the facebook wagon; I understand why Casio would be there its improving marketing. But Oracle or IBM facebook groups for me seem more suited to the linkedIn world – they aim there sales at corporations not the general public?
I have a huge blind spot for Facebook’s marketing potential. I’m trying to figure it out because from what I hear, a presence on Facebook is like a web site in 1997, you have to have one.
I don’t get the reasonings either, but an n00b’s guess says they’re the same, i.e. a new channel. The bonus now is that no one is anonymous.
Zuckerberg’s goal has always been to create a new internet within his walls. That seemed laughable in 2008, but not so much now.
I have a slightly different take on Facebook pages. A presence on Facebook is more akin to an AOL keyword. One major difference is that while AOL keywords went to relatively big companies, it’s now possible for smaller organizations, such as your local bakery, to get them.
Jake’s reference to FriendFeed is appropriate. There’s obviously been some migration of FriendFeeders to Facebook, and the fact that Facebook is adopting some FriendFeed-like features (which began even before the acquisition) makes the transition easier. A Facebook page offers the ability to create a community, and now that message boards are passe, Ning is no longer free, and FriendFeed is fading away, Facebook pages may become online community centers.
I suppose AOL and Facebook are alike in that they are both walled gardens, although Facebook has become less so as it has become more popular.
Facebook is replacing web sites for many small businesses due to cost. Instead of continuing to pay web hosting, maintenance, and SEO costs, businesses can start and cheaply maintain Facebook pages. It’s odd to think that Facebook has democratized the cost of an online presence.
I sort of go the other way with FB. I’ve got a page for my site, which is useful for adding updates about new content etc. I think it’s helped with the site’s popularity, though I guess there’s no way to measure it as I can’t see what would have happened had I not set up the page. I like the idea of being able to send out an update and to know others will see it, though often it’s just the same 1% of users who comment, the rest staying silent, possibly never even reading what I add.
On the flip side, I don’t use FB at all for keeping in touch with friends / family – I can’t be bothered with all of that!
I absolutely agree that FB has become the new website, a better version that doesn’t require design, hosting, protection from baddies, maintenance, etc. It’s a great marketing tool for small businesses.
This is a bit frightening to me, as an internet within an internet (ah Inception), is a bad thing.
So, while I’ve gone away from FB for personal stuff, I’m thinking it’s a must-have now for marketing. I need to catch up on techniques though to link it to here.