Is YOUR Club on Facebook? Facebook for Clubs

What Choices Do Clubs Have? Clubs can create two different types of Facebook accounts – Group a community of people and friends to promote, share and discuss relevant topics. – Fan Page special profiles meant to promote a brand, a product, an artist, a web site, an organization.

Group Page

Facebook Groups Best for fostering member-to-member collaboration. – Alumni groups – Study groups – Clubs/organizations – Special interest groups – Beta test groups – Class project/study group

Groups: The Pros & Cons PROS – Can be limited to networks, like California, Pa. – Can control who joins by making group open, closed or secret – Can message all members (up to 5000 members) – Messages go to members inbox. – All group activity goes out into feeds (wall posts, photos uploaded, discussion threads, etc.) – Anyone can start a group around any topic – More personal CONS – Is an extension of a personal account, so content is linked to a person – Once over 5000 members, can’t message all members – Minimal customization – Can’t add applications – Tricky to delete – Can’t assign custom username – No analytic or demographic information available – Administrator name is public

Fan Pages Best for broadcasting messages to your fans if you are a business, organization, celebrity, public figure, band or other entity. – Cal U of PA – Adam Sandler – Gene the Werewolf – Starbucks – Mayor Casey Durdines

Pages: The Pros & Cons PROS – Can target advertising – High level of customization, including applications and HTML/FBML – Allows options for connecting Facebook content to your own website through Facebook Connect – Analytical capability through Insights. Can track growth of fan base, page views, demographics. – Suggest to Friends feature – Indexed by Google – Can have unlimited fans – Can message all fans – Open to everyone – Account can be tied to a generic account, not an individual CONS – Can’t privately message all members – Messages go out as an Update to the fans, not to their inbox (hidden notifications) – Accounts tied to individual account forever (for now) and can’t be change – Generates little activity via the News Feed

The Bottom Line "While Groups and Pages now look the same, they still serve different purposes. Groups are for fostering member-to-member collaboration, while Pages remain the best way to broadcast messages to your fans if you are a business, organization, public figure or other entity.” --Knot Pipatsrisawat, software engineer intern at Facebook

Start With a Plan How will your club will use the account? What is your goal for the page? – Recruitment? Within Cal? HS? – Communication with current members – Promotion of events – Alternative web page How often will you update? Will someone be charged with this task? – Facebook pages take time to keep up to date. You don’t want to create a Goup or a Page, then abandon it. Do you need assistance setting up the Group/Page? – If yes, MAC Lab students are available to assist you with the creation and enhancement of your Facebook page. Get support from all your current members – Have a group planning session to answer these questions – Make sure every member joins – Encourage all members to contribute to the page

Some Guidelines to Follow Promote your Group/Page on all marketing materials Use Cal U or Cal U of PA in your Group/Page name Name more than one administrator, preferably one club officer and the club’s current advisor Use good judgment and abide by the Student Code of Conduct in making your updates, posts, uploading video/photos. – Violation of this could result in the loss of cross-promotion by SAI and other official Cal U pages. Evidence of violation of the Student Code of Conduct will be forwarded to the university judicial officer. Submit your link to the SAI Fan Page for our master directory of club Groups/Pages Become a Fan of SAI at Cal U and California University of Pennsylvania

Want to be OFFICIAL? Submit your Group/Page for initial and periodic review to SAI’s Director of New Media Services, Pam DelVerne. Set up complete information pages Have no violations of the Student Code of Conduct by administrators of the group Official clubs may be granted permission to use the university logo Official clubs will be cross-promoted on the SAI Fan Page

Use of the University Logos At this time, no club is permitted to use any official university logos without the express, written permission of university Marketing Director Craig Butzine.

Use of the University Logos At this time, no sports club are permitted to use the official athletic logo without first getting permission for Director of Sports Clubs Jamison Roth.

Links & Reference Material Facebook Pages vs Facebook Groups: What’s the Difference? Giving Groups a Stronger Voice Facebook Pages vs Groups: Which do I Use? Facebook Groups vs Facebook Pages Facebook Groups Finally Getting a Makeover Facebook Groups vs Facebook Pages – Which Is Best? Facebook Groups Gets A Facelift How to Develop a Facebook Page That Attracts Millions of Fans Facebook Page Statistics The Importance of Facebook Profile Images

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