Facebook changed our ideas about exposure. For frequent users of this version of social network, this change is evident. As a recent phenomenon, the functions of Facebook’s status walls and like buttons have changed the way we allow others to see ourselves, whether intentionally or not.
In the real world every instance of interpersonal interaction is held back by many unseen obstacles, which sets a cap on the quantity of information that may be exchanged between us. Social norms, mannerisms, cultural awareness, body language and even the chance of a hostile reaction from people within hearing distance are ever present. Not to mention that lack of time itself is huge restriction in real world conversations. People won’t wait around for you to finally lash out what you really think of the situation, nor do your words linger around in the atmosphere for others to see for days onwards – just in the minds of those who heard it initially.
If what you need are Mazda pictures or you are looking for Ford spares, a random post to my Facebook page lets you discover it in a recommended way. Facebook not only tells me what you are into, but gives me the option of joining you in that interest.
Openbook is a website that aggregates status updates from Facebook’s gives you access to all the status updates it can pick up from Facebook’s half a billion users. With Openbook, even a person not registered to Facebook can have a grand tour of what an average Facebook user typically likes the world to hear. Some mundane (”where is my socks”), some philosophical (”I found the meaning of life and I’m not giving it out for free”), and some too revealing (I am cheating on you and loving it!”), but the general sense is that many of these are not usually something you can come across on a day to day basis.
No less telling however, is the Like buttons. Whenever a user clicks on a Like button, there’s almost never any monetary reward from doing so, hence we can interpret these actions are performed out of actual fondness. Further more, the fact that every Like we click adds to our Profile, they function as virtual marketing tools we tag ourselves with.
Each instance of “Like” that is added to a user’s profile can be interpreted as an idea, character, product or organisation that the user would prefer us to associate them with.
Facebook is the marketer’s dream. It’s free and it has a broad reach that is measurable. Any business that wants to strengthen its market position needs Facebook plan of attack.
To see an example of a Facebook page that is successfully interacting with its users, check out NZV8 or First in Health.
Posted under Social Media Marketing
This post was written by Wayne Day on February 20, 2012
