If your organization has a Facebook page, you’ll probably want to make note of a subtle yet important change in the way people interact with your group.
Until today, when somebody wanted to join a group, he or she would click on a link that said, “Become a fan”.
Today, that language changes. Instead of becoming a fan, people now click on a button that says they “like” a page.
Why does it matter?
When people using Facebook join a group, their status updates will now say that they “like” the group.
But, perhaps more important, the change means that many nonprofit groups now need to revamp the language in promotional materials that encourage supporters to connect with them on Facebook
What do you think of the change? Is your organization planning to update promotional materials to reflect Facebook’s new language?
7 Responses to Say Goodbye to Your Facebook Fans
askmanny - April 20, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Personally, I didn’t like the changes implemented by Facebook:http://askmanny.com/2010/04/i-dont-like-the-recent-changes-to-facebook-pages/
jennifersuh - April 21, 2010 at 12:13 pm
So, do you have any suggestions on how make the appeal? Is it, “Like us on Facebook?”
jshawnl - April 21, 2010 at 2:50 pm
I always have been uncomfortable with the “fan” language and so see this as an improvement.How about, “Join us on Facebook.” ?
kshermach - April 21, 2010 at 3:10 pm
How about “Like, um, do you like us? Click thumbs-up for yes.”
notoriousjlb - April 21, 2010 at 4:30 pm
This small change is actually part of a much bigger change that Facebook is making to Pages. There are now “community pages” for things that aren’t entities or brands (or nonprofits). These will all be connected more tightly with each person’s individual profile (in the likes/activities part). FB believes that these changes will result in exposing more people to more Pages and brands, etc. There’s more on Facebook’s Blog – http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=382978412130.-Joelhttp://www.commonknow.com
k4health - April 21, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Thanks, notorious. Good to know :) I’ve always found FB to be restrictive in terms of engaging and building a community. Hopefully, the changes you mention will make it easier.
wildwomanfundraising - April 22, 2010 at 11:26 pm
This might be a way to get people on facebook to stop being so insular with their causes…Personally if I had a facebook cause page, I would find the move distressing. Liking sounds so much more impersonal than being a fan. Fan is short for fanatic. Liking something is so tepid. I don’t really think Facebook pages, fan or no, are worth the effort. I committed facebook suicide 5 months ago and I know a lot of other people who have also committed facebook suicide. You waste too much time on there, and your supporters are also on Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networks. You don’t need to be on facebook and let them have access to all of your personal information. Mazarinehttp://wildwomanfundraising.com