Blog

I spent some time last week listening to a presentation from Heather Mansfield of NonProfit Tech 2.0 about Facebook Community Pages.  It really showed how complex and confusing Facebook has made them.  There is a distinction to make here before we get too deep into this and that’s the difference between Community Pages and regular Facebook Pages.

• Community Pages are for causes, campaigns or ideas.  Anyone can start and contribute to these pages sort of like Wikipedia.

• Facebook Pages (formally known as Fan Pages) are the official pages of brands.  At some point, Facebook will ask admins to authenticate the page. You have to prove you’re with the organization the page represents.  Facebook has a magic and unpredictable system for when you’re asked to authenticate a page.

How are Community Pages created?

Mansfield says there are three basic ways:

1. Community Pages that were initially Fan Pages, but could not be “authenticated” and thus downgraded to a Community Pages.
2. Community Pages individuals create for campaigns, causes and ideas.
3. Community Pages Facebook creates automatically.  The best example of this came recently when Facebook asked users to update the info section by linking schools, employers, interests, etc. to Community Pages.

Important differences between Community Pages and Official Facebook Pages:

• Feed exposure.  When you post something through your Official Page, people who “Like” you will see the post int heir news feed.  Community posts get no wall exposure.  (There is a confusing exception where Community Page posts show up in news feeds until Facebook asks the creator to authenticate the page.  And while the authorizing process is a little bit of a mystery, you’ll most likely lose the ability to show up in peoples news feed.  (Yes Facebook is bizarre and sketchy in this aspect.)

• Search.  Community Pages are getting higher priority in search results.  If someone searches for your organization and they don’t already “like” you, the community page will show up first.  Your Official Page may not even show up until they click on show more results.  If they “Like” you already, your Official Page shows up first.

Things you should do:

• Search to see if there are any Community Pages for your organization.  If you find them, link it to your Official Page where possible.

• Be cautious before creating a Community Page.  Sure it might make sense for you to make a “Community Valley Church Helps Haiti” Community Page, but what if Facebook changes it and doesn’t allow your updates to show up in the news feed?  That’s where the value is.  So your hard work could get lost.  It may be better to customize your Official Page and create a tab or side box for your Haiti efforts.

Here are a few links I found helpful in explaining Community Pages:

• "How Facebook Community Pages Can Damage Your Business or Nonprofit Organization" -- Honey Tree Media
• "How Facebook Community Paged Undermine Nonprofit's Offical Pages in Facebook Searches" -- Nonprofit Tech 2.0
• "Odds Are, Your Nonproft Has a Facebook Community Page: Find It, Claim It and Link It to Your Official Page" -- Nonprofit Tech 2.0

Update

Heather has been asked to authenticate her Nonproft Organizations Facebook Page since she's topped 10,000 fans/likers.  Here's a link to a blog post about her experience.