Like so many Facebook page owner/admins, I have experienced the benefits of actively engaging with other pages. It builds goodwill, it incites reciprocity, it generates awareness. But with the way Facebook news feeds work these days, there really is such a thing as too much of a good thing. While your engagement might be appreciated by the pages you’re proactively interacting with, it might also be annoying to your fans.
How can it be that engagement – the not-so-secret recipe for creating a formidable online presence – might bite us in our social media derrières? While most of us think Facebook overly throttles the status updates, links and photos that we post, it seems to more than generously display our liking, sharing and commenting activities. Are our fans more interested in our engagement with other pages than what we post on our own? My guess is “no,” but they’re seeing a good bit of it regardless.
Easy does it!
So be judicious when liking, sharing and commenting. Don’t do it all in one fell swoop at a single point during the day because your fans’ news feeds will be inundated with posts showing (seemingly) everything that you liked, shared and commented on. Honestly, I’ve unliked other pages when my news feed was disproportionately filled with posts showing that they liked this or commented on that. And, before I caught on to the fact that I might be subjecting my own fans to the same bombardment, I’m sure I lost a fan (maybe 2) for the very same reason. Engage, but pace yourself, so your interactions are more evenly spread out rather than condensed into a short time span.
Don’t cause hard feelings.
Also be aware that the admins of the pages that follow you will see which pages you’re showing the most love to. And if it’s not them, well, they might feel a bit dejected. Naturally, you’ll have some favorites (either because they’re your clients, raving fans, or prospects), but try to more evenly distribute your engagement to avoid appearing overly selective.
Make it meaningful
Make it count when engaging with other pages. Don’t like, comment or share without putting any thought into it. Aim to engage only when posts are truly interesting, informative, entertaining or otherwise give you a reason to interact with them. That will help you keep the quantity of your interactions in check so you’re not overpowering your fans’ news feeds. Plus, it will demonstrate that you have intent when you interact…that it’s not done solely for the sake of throwing someone a bone.
Proactively engaging on Facebook really is a great thing. It’s just that – for now – it might be in your best interest to tone things down instead of going full throttle.
Your turn? How have you modified your engagement with Facebook pages since likes, comments and shares are prominently displayed in your fans’ news feeds?
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Facebook can be a strange animal sometimes, Dawn. And I don’t know about you, but I simply cannot keep up with all the changes. Sheesh. I’ll be honest. There were years when I was a lot happier and felt a lot more at ease with everything I did on Facebook. Those days are gone. 🙁
You nailed it with this! …
“Engage, but pace yourself, so your interactions are more evenly spread out rather than condensed into a short time span.”
I’m with you, Melanie! Seems the only constant is that there is no constant when it comes to Facebook. But we’re all in it together so that’s a little comforting, right? 😉
Thanks for your remarks here…I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!