Cultivating a Community

I keep promising to answer the excellent questions I got from readers in response to my first article (back in February), so here we go!

Stephanie from BRIC said:

I’m still conflicted on the Page vs. Group issue for non-profit arts organizations. Especially in New York, where the small and mid-size performing arts organizations are part of a network where everyone knows one another... Audiences who don’t come from within the community often want to be a part of it – make a personal connection, rather than feel like they are part of a commercial enterprise.

A friend of mine is a Fan of 245 pages. He’s a Fan of Kermit, The Daily Show, the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, The Little Prince, Spinach, Burberry, Muffins, Macbook, the IDF, Tommy Hilfigger, Sushi, Levis Footwear -- the list goes on. ...Pages become more of a statement of aesthetic than a place he actually visits and interacts with on a regular basis.

Stephanie raises a good point about creating a more community-oriented space on Facebook -- and it's evident that she wasn't the only one to think so! By now you all know my thoughts on the NEW Facebook Pages: They're designed to be so much more community-based and interaction-friendly than they were before. Now Page administrators have more control -- as long as you're posting compelling messages and discussion questions, the Page can be made to feel much less like a "commercial enterprise" now.

So I think that in some ways, her question might be answered already. Since "fans"can now interact much more directly, I think that the new Pages feel a lot more like the old Groups now.

I have to stand by my opinion that Groups are simply outdated technology, at this point. They still don't get News Feed real estate, they can't be customized, you can't add apps... (I know I haven't gone into technical detail yet about HOW to do some of those things with a Page, but I'm still waiting for Facebook to settle down and stop changing things.)

That said: I think that Groups can still be a valuable tool for arts organizations, especially in situations like Stephanie describes, where the organization's artists and managers DO want to be personally associated with the org. Maybe one solution is to create both, but be sure to delineate a separate purpose for each -- have a Facebook Page with more generalized, public content and event information, but also include a big link to join the organization's Group, which would have a more personal feel.

I'd love to hear more thoughts on this! What do you think? Do the new Pages seem like a better environment for making a personal connection than the old ones did?