Facebook group or page and other related issues

[Dave A]

I have been putting this off for ages - dealing with Facebook issues for The Forum SA. But I guess the time has come.

What worries me a bit is this could become yet another ball I'm juggling in an already fairly crowded circus act. But it seems something needs to be done, and I'd like some guidance as to just what that "something" should be.

Some years ago a member started The Forum SA Facebook group. This group has recently been upgraded to the new groups functionality on Facebook, and as I was added as an admin, I got a notification about it.

I've taken a look and... well if TFSA is going to have something on Facebook, I would like it to be a bit better than what's there now

The first question I have is which would be better for TFSA - to have a group or a page?

Could any Facebook experts comment please because when it comes to Facebook, I'm pretty clueless as to the subtleties.

[tec0]

Anonymity in my opinion is key and I guess one would lose that in the Facebook environment. That said I saw in some chartrooms that having a group works well. Having a page? In all honesty would it be functional? What plans do you have for the page?

[Just Gone]

If the facebook page links back to this forum its exactly what you would want - if u dont want people to know who you are then u dont have to like the page, but media advertising is def the modern way to go.

[Norri]

Page definitely better than a group, IMO. You can advertise your page and grow your fanbase, which helps you grow your membership. I promote my forum (5,000+ members) using Facebook and it helps a lot. I initially just advertised my forum directly but I've found it's actually more useful to advertise your page as people who are already on FB want to stay there.

Then you set up TwitterFeed.com type of thing to post some threads to your page now and again and let it grow.

My GuitarForum.co.za FB page is not a good example of a good page but I've had success with other pages and, plain and simple, pages beat groups most of the time.

Another reason to use a page over a group is that pages offer "insights" into who's liking your page. This is useful if you want to grow your demographics or market something to demographics that you know share an interest in your forum.

I've got a good book on the topic by Justin Levy that I highly recommend. Check out some reviews here: http://justinrlevy.com/2010/07/revie...ook-marketing/

[Jovana]

I'm a social media expert!

You NEED to have a page. Groups are under-used and there is not a lot you can really do with it. If you're going to spend time growing your brand on FB, you've got to use a Facebook Page - it integrates perfectly with insights (Seeing what your FB fans are clicking on, interacting with), events, notes and you can have landing pages on your FB page (increases the chance of people liking on your fanpage).

Check out this article, it will explain it much better then I ever can: http://mashable.com/2009/05/27/facebook-page-vs-group/

The fantastic thing about a FB page is that it really doesn't take up much to maintain. Post two or three times a week to an interesting thread on the forum, and you're set to go.

[Dave A]

Thanks for all the input so far. So a page is the way to go

Anonymity in my opinion is key and I guess one would lose that in the Facebook environment.

Merely liking a page wouldn't link your profile here to Facebook. But your point does lead me to my next question.

vBulletin has a fairly extensive integration option with Facebook which would allow, for example, the linking of a profile on TFSA to a profile on Facebook. It isn't currently enabled here.

The main benefit to the user is a fair amount of profile data can be imported from Facebook into your user profile here, saving a lot of recapturing. There is also some cross-over in terms of activity.

Now I accept that there are those who might not want this. However, it would be an opt-in linkage anyway - so it doesn't really pose a problem for these folk.
Also, I don't see an upside to enabling this if there isn't going to be much adoption.

The question is - if I enabled the ability to link profiles across between Facebook and TFSA, would anyone use it?

[Jovana]

A lot of people would use it. The simpler you make things for people, the more likely they'll climb on the bandwagon.

[Norri]

The major benefit of linking Facebook to forums, in my experience, is faster sign-ups - especially if you're using Facebook to advertise your forum. It's much easier to click "Connect with Facebook" than to click "Register" and then fill in all your personal details yet again.

But I would go for as deep integration as you can get, so you get their email address and can create a PROPER user account for them on the forum because, all too often, the integration is only skin-deep, it allows them to post to your forum, but they don't have a full member account. I'm not sure what vBulletin supports but, ja, aim for as-integrated-as-possible (for those who choose it).

And no, I wouldn't expect existing people to use it much unless you really promote the new feature. What I've found on GuitarForum.co.za is that change is something forum people prefer to avoid - at least for a few months or so :P

(Oh the hell we got for updating the design from blue to red - wow! But they all got over it, eventually.)

[Dave A]

Uuggghhh what a link to the page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Forum-SA/351904608177744#!/pages/The-Forum-SA/351904608177744?sk=wall

You'd think they'd come up with something cleaner

EDIT: Marginally better :|

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Forum-SA/351904608177744?sk=wall#!/pages/The-Forum-SA/351904608177744

[Norri]

Once you have 100+ fans, you can have something like: http://www.facebook.com/just1.co.za

I just to add the ".co.za" because "just1" was taken. So don't take my example as the best way to do it. It's just how I did it.

[Norri]

Oh and here's the shortest version of your FB link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fo...51904608177744

[Dave A]

I'm going to run out of thanks clicks today at this rate.

You're a star, Norri. Much appreciated!

[Norri]

Any time

[Dave A]

The major benefit of linking Facebook to forums, in my experience, is faster sign-ups - especially if you're using Facebook to advertise your forum. It's much easier to click "Connect with Facebook" than to click "Register" and then fill in all your personal details yet again.

I'm not into "easy signups" really.

Part of why TFSA works the way it does is the social progression system is designed to filter out the "noise". Only people who are interested in the primary focus area of the site (being business in South Africa) tend to stick around, and I'm not keen on messing with that.

I think for now I just want to add a button at the top of the page next to the Twitter Follow button, and then take feedback for a few days. Struggling to find the right way of doing that just at the moment - and it's going to have to wait to this evening.

Got work to do

[Jovana]

If it's your first URL , you can automatically have a fancy URL set up (go to the options of your FB page).

If not, you only 25 likes before you can create a fancy URL