Comments on: A call for Facebook group success stories

By: Howie

Howie — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:14:54 +0000

I created THIS Facebook group….

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21237201144&ref=mf

The Facebook Group Platform is really quite limited, at least from personal experience, but the theme makes all the difference in the world. It certainly needs to be a lasting concept that will garner incredible, continual interest. The Colbert group managed to do this, with over a million members gained in less than a week (i believe that was it….)……but, like many facebook groups, it has been loosing members frequently now now that the ‘interest’ has died down……it was fun while it began for the first few weeks….it even gained some national media exposure, on the daily show, etc…..but, then, like many groups it just faced a decling…..

Ours has had slow, and steady growth…..it’s a rather lofty goal….and, some say it’s unreasonable….but, for the most part, i think alot of facebook members like to JOIN and invite their friends to groups that have monumental goals….

I created the logo….it’s simple, but intriguing, and gets frequent posts daily on the board…..

Here’s our growth statistics:
1,000 Members at 10:57 PM (EST) 11/06/2007
2,000 Members at 5:24 AM (EST) 11/08/2007
3,000 Members at 7:37 PM (EST) 11/08/2007
4,000 Members at 9:36 AM (EST) 11/09/2007
5,000 Members at 5:28 PM (EST) 11/09/2007
6,000 Members at 11:43 AM (EST) 11/10/2007
7,000 Members at 7:37 AM (EST) 11/11/2007
8,000 Members at 6:39 PM (EST) 11/11/2007
10,000 Members at 1:53 PM (EST) 11/12/2007
11,000 Members at 6:30 PM (EST) 11/12/2007
12,000 Members at 11:00 PM (EST) 11/12/2007
13,000 Members at 11:00 AM (EST) 11/13/2007
19,000 Members at 11:00 PM (EST) 11/13/2007
20,000 Members at 9:30 AM (EST) 11/14/2007
28,000 Members at 11:15 PM (EST) 11/16/2007
40,000 Members at 11:00 PM (EST) 11/19/2007
50,000 Members at 11:00 PM (EST) 11/21/2007
80,000 Members at 9:30 PM (EST) 11/29/2007
90,000 Members at 6:00 PM (EST) 12/2/2007
101,000 Members at 7:00 PM (EST) 12/5/2007
117,000 Members at 6:00 PM (EST) 12/10/2007
120,000 Members at 8:00 PM (EST) 12/11/2007
134,000 Members at 10:00 PM (EST) 12/25/2007
149,151 Members at 4:16 PM (EST) 02/23/2008
151,176 members at 9:26 PM (EST) 03/04/2008
151,240 members at 10:08 AM (EST) 03/05/2008
151,394 members at 7:45 AM (EST) 03/06/2008
151,648 members at 12:22 PM (EST) 03/07/2008
151,915 members at 11:38 AM (EST) 03/09/2008
152,066 members at 9:42 AM (EST) 03/11/2008
152,117 members at 10:23 AM (EST) 03/12/2008

By: Emma

Emma — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:00:46 +0000

Yes I would also like to know if anyone has used a profile for their organisation successfully too, and how they went about it?

By: Ravi G.

Ravi G. — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 19:34:18 +0000

I totally agree that Facebook groups and causes are impossible to keep up with, and sifting through even the existing feeds is frustrating.

I’m really waiting for facebook to open up and adopt some best practices of blogging, rss feeds, etc.

Perhaps an amateur question: but do organizations have better chances creating a profile rather than a group. This way all the group’s friends get facebook feed updates when items are posted and updated? Solves the shortcomings of groups.

By: » Facebook Advertising Connie Bensen: My Conversations

» Facebook Advertising Connie Bensen: My Conversations — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:10:47 +0000

[…] There has been a discussion about groups & how people just join & don’t participate. Bryan Person had commentary on that on his blog. There are a number of Groups that provide me with value. The […]

By: Nathan Ketsdever

Nathan Ketsdever — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 05:43:30 +0000

I know that event promotions folks have used them rather successfully.

I tend to think that groups that have met in “real life” have a better chance of success (ie Podcamps) although there is the addition of being in social media that helps.

I know Mitch Joel had a group which seemed to get some chatter going (something like 15 video posts–although I imagine mostly by him), also Jeremiah’s web strategist group is reasonable. A facebook friend is running a group called Church 2.0 that he’s asked questions in and gotten some good response. Certainly, Connie Bensen’s experience above is worth noting.

By: Connie Bensen

Connie Bensen — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 20:46:36 +0000

Hi Bryan,
In August Facebook really opened up my networking beyond just commenting on blogs. My overview of that is here.
http://conniebensen.com/blog/2007/09/12/microsoft-becomes-human-thru-facebook/

I’ve also created an ACDSee group & there are 85 members. I’m Community Manager with ACDSee now, but the group is more informational rather than heavy marketing. Is it successful? I think so, because I notify people of chats & news from there & it’s growing.

And I have a series on Facebook including groups that outlines the way our community is using them for marketing their websites. They are having fun & really enjoying it! How successful they are with the marketing aspect hasn’t been assessed yet.
http://digiscrapinfo.com/wordpress/2007/08/18/facebook-is-in/

I am speaking on utilizing Facebook groups at a conference (widget on my blog) in Dec & will be sharing more information on how they can be used with just the investment of time.

Really it’s about being involved in a group (more than just joining it). If you have questions or want to talk about it - let me know. To date Facebook has been my primary place for networking & it started with the Web Strategy group there.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 20:44:09 +0000

@Eden: You addressed another frustration I have with groups that I might have included in the original past: the lack of integration between groups and personal profiles. Also, most (all?) Facebook applications can’t be used in groups. Why not?

By: Joe Cascio

Joe Cascio — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 14:00:48 +0000

Same here, Bryan. I’ve pretty much stopped responding to Facebook group requests altogether. None have really appealed to me that much, but even if they did, I’d find Facebook’s UI to be a real problem. I don’t know why, but I find it almost impossible to figure out. It’s just this mad jumble of stuff all thrown in the same bucket. Facebook needs to figure out what it wants to be, and “everything to everybody” isn’t the right answer.

By: Eden Spodek

Eden Spodek — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:30:26 +0000

I share your frustration. I belong to 103 groups. Some start with greater momentum than others but the lack of RSS or another means of notifying members when there are any updates (not just to the profile or related news), detracts from the success and potential of Facebook groups.

I have a Facebook group and use Twitter as an extension of my blog. I'm disappointed I can't integrate Twitter with my group. Likewise, I'm disappointed I can't integrate the groups I administer with my personal profile. Both these features plus RSS would help make Facebook groups more viable and provide easier access to a wealth of valuable discussions and other content.

FYI, one of my favourite groups is run by HarperCollins Canada (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2345834133). I'm sure part of their success is because they give away at least 75 free books every month!

By: Michael Allison

Michael Allison — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:45:49 +0000

I have the same experience.

I have a crisis communicators group on Facebook as well as one set up for my MA cohort for our on-campus residency. Neither have any significant involvement.