Thank you to Douglas Firebaugh and his excellent article on the “10 Social Media Laws of Facebook”
I think each of the points is valuable but the one that I want to discuss today is his Law number 7 — “Law of Facebook Groups”
Facebook Groups are the best way to grow your network on facebook with people who share common interests.
- Click on GROUPS – this might be on the bottom of your browser screen on the left – or click on the “f” icon on the bottom left and see it on the full list – and you should see it on the list of applications. Book mark it so the icon shows up for easy click in the future.
- You will see 2 columns on the GROUP page. The left column are the groups that people in your network have joined. The right column are groups that you have joined. For each of the groups you will see a brief description and the number of members and any recent activity.
- Look at the LEFT column (groups recently joined by your network) – click on the “see all” at the top right of the column – and then browse through this list. You can click on a group, review the overview section, look at the number of members, and see the types of things in their discussion forum and events etc. If you are interested in the topic – click on the JOIN THIS GROUP on the top right column.
- Now that you are a member of the group – follow the discussions, post your own comments and questions — all of these activities will show up on your own profile and increase your visibility.
- The next step is to GROW your own list of friends – click on a person who is a member of the group – and click on the “Add as friend” – You can write a short email e.g. “We are both members of the xxxx group and I would like to invite you to be a facebook friend.” You can copy and paste this – and personalize it with “Dear FIRSTNAME” – If the person agrees – you will get a notice that they have added you as a Facebook friend. Send them a thank you. These activities will help you to grow your network with people who share a common interest.
- Invite other people to join the group – this will also help your visibility and your network – and it will also help your friends to find an interesting group.
In addition to using the “groups recently joined by your network” — you can do a SEARCH in groups on any topic and review the list of groups. Follow the same steps.
If you have any additional suggestions please feel free to send your comments or questions.
