Small community organizations, such as parent committees, book clubs, sports associations, or service groups, struggle to communicate effectively with their members and the communities around them.
- Limited resources make the costs of newspapers or other forms of print marketing restrictive.
- Telephone communication can be cumbersome and time consuming.
- Meetings may be poorly attended or ineffective.
The rise of social networks as a means of communication has implications beyond personal socialization or commercial networks; it can now be considered a valid tool for community groups. Facebook should be an obvious choice for an organization seeking the benefits of social media.
Individually, Facebook members will probably have members of their local communities on their friend lists, the audience (or a part of it) is already accessible without any preliminary work; your organization now has a targeted, immediately available audience built in from the start. New members can easily register with Facebook and become part of a fast-growing network.
There are several ways that a message can be shared, two of which are: posted status updates and viewed by friends from personal pages, and through the use of Facebook pages (formerly Groups). One page has integrated messaging systems through wall posts and a discussion area, plus posting features through status updates broadcast to all Fans (idea group members) and private messages sent to the tray. input of each Fan. With the click of a button, Administrators can send an update to Fans.
Becoming a Fan is easy; one simply follows a link that the administrators of the page have sent as an invitation. Alternatively, people can search for a page and become members by navigating to the website. Other useful features of a Facebook page:
- Events can be posted to a shared calendar
- Documents can be uploaded for universal group use
- External links and photos can be shared.
Community organizations fight for their message to be heard, whether for their members or for those within the community. Social networking sites, such as Facebook, offer organizations the opportunity to provide universally accessible, clear, and dynamic information about events, meetings, fundraising initiatives, and other group information. The possibilities are virtually endless!
