Facebook Groups are Awesometastic
Need a quick way to build a community around an idea, event or concept?
Want to generate some discussion around a topic that is important to you (and you’re pretty sure other people are just as psyched)? Start a Facebook Group.
It’s easy, and finding members won’t be a problem. Just invite the folks that you know are most likely to join, and watch as their like-minded friends and contacts spot the group in news feeds and start joining en masse. Perhaps even encourage the most influential folks among your invitees to spread the word- or even better, to add content to the group in the form of photos, videos, links, and discussion posts.
In part, this post serves to turn the spotlight on a group I recently created called The Social Media Bar. The idea was born during a session at Barcamp Vancouver, where I assembled a panel of some incredibly bright folks who are experts in the field of social media. I’m speaking of Monique Trottier, Linda Bustos, Lee LeFever, Tanya Davis and Geoff Gachallan, plus myself.
As a group of about 40, we talked for an hour about social media and marketing, and as you might have guessed, we merely scratched the surface. The group was created to continue the discussion, and just a few days later, membership is growing quickly. I have seen group members adding each other as friends after seeing them in the member list, and that alone is enough reason for me to call it a success. Everyone is welcome, so please join.
Surely there’s an idea or group that you can rally a community around, and start a discussion that the whole collective can contribute to. It might just be the best way to find out who else shares your interest in something that is important to you.
So if you haven’t already, start your very first online community in the form of a Facebook Group, and you’ll begin to get an idea of what it means to bring people closer together using the social tools of the web. Plus, it’s a whole lot of fun!
Bonus link: An “awesometastic” example of a Facebook group with a great message: The Kindness Crew group, started by the guys of ExtremeKindness.com. They’re from my hometown, and travel around committing random acts of kindness and matching short-term volunteers with worthy causes. Well done, guys!
August 26th, 2007 at 9:45 am
This is a good article. I’ve been infatuated with Social Marketing and how these sites could correlate or translate into the overall success of a website. I struggle daily with how to best incorporate the sites or their concepts into something special in a project of my own. I’ve yet to tap that part of it yet. I’m definitely going to have a look at Facebook.
August 26th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Thanks for the comment, Matt.
The strength of Facebook is in the fact that most of your network probably already belongs as a member, and it’s just a matter of finding and connecting with them. Your closest contacts are the ones most likely to spread the work on your behalf, so when you build that first Facebook Group, be sure to invite them and encourage them to invite their friends too.
My advice for any additional social networks is to join any and all that you have the time to maintain (reply to all messages, etc), and that are relevant- you’ll build a larger network, and the incoming links to your site will be better for SEO.
Still, the best way to promote a site is to get out there and comment on other people’s sites, adding valuable commentary along the way, and of course making sure that you publish information that people just can’t get enough of. Links are powerful, and people link to stuff they like.
If you have any other questions, fire away!
August 26th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Tell Ten Friends - Social Media Marketing…
Ok, the first site we’re looking at is called Tell Ten Friends. Right out of the gate, you know what they are about. TTF specializes in getting a business’ web presence up and going. They appear to use a heavy amount of socia…
August 26th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Thanks a ton. I reviewed ya on my new site. I’m a study of marking and social networking. I can already tell you guys are good.
Sorry if the trackback was annoying.
October 5th, 2007 at 10:28 am
I just started to update my facebook profile today and took a look at some groups. I was absolutely fascinated by all the fun stuff out there….like “I can tell you where I live on my hand” group (for Michigan people!) Also, the “Why does God hate the AZ Cardinals” group is pretty Fun!….Its hilarious….I can’t wait to find time to look up more interesting groups on there and will encourage my clients to do this, too…fun stuff!