Facebook Groups: Are You In or Out?

Last week I wrote about how you decide who to friend {and not friend} on Facebook.

Today, I want to talk about Facebook groups for bloggers.

I crowdsourced this topic on Twitter and Facebook last week. Bloggers are all over the map on how they feel about Facebook groups. Some are in four and feel that’s too many; others are in a couple and are looking for more. Some feel they’re a time suck and some find them very useful.

Lea Ann from Mommy’s Wish List said:

The Facebook groups are all so different. Vastly. Some are best practices, some are support, some are vent venues. Time suck.

Jacqui Layne said:

I was in a lot a while ago but It seemed like a lot of them were whining about not getting enough views and comments.

I’m currently a member of EIGHT (I thought it was four until I actually counted) private Facebook groups. All are blog-related. I pared this down from my high water mark of fourteen several months ago.{I know. Crazytown.}

At first, I was really excited to be a part of so many groups. I get kind of a high when I’m invited to a group, like I’ve just gotten a bid after sorority rush. But when I combine feeling flattered with my utter inability to say no to anything, I have a lethal combination.

Too many groups, not enough time, and more importantly – not enough return for the time I do put in.

So I try to pop in and contribute where I can, but ultimately I wind up feeling overwhelmed and either drop out or don’t return. Yeah, I’m the Facebook Group slacker who sits in the back row and sleeps.

I do have a couple of Facebook groups that I find incredibly valuable. They enhance my blogging instead of distracting from it – and I don’t mean traffic here – I mean learning and networking.

But others (including ones I’ve started myself) have devolved into a drone of self-promotion.

I want to note here that I am all for self-promoting your personal blog. It’s a necessary evil. I also recognize that there’s a value in having small groups of friends meet privately on Facebook to encourage and support each other with a certain level of social sharing.

My problem is that some bloggers fail to exercise any discretion when it comes to self-promoting in these groups.

If you’re in a group with over 100 members, you might *think* it’s a good idea to provide a link to every.single.blog.post you publish in that group and ask people to read and share it.

It’s NOT a good idea.

You do the math. If you’re posting 3 or 4 days a week, and so are the other 100 people in the group, and you’re all sharing every post in your Facebook group, look at how many posts are competing for each person’s attention every day. If you’re lucky, you might get a couple of people to read it, but more than likely, people will just press “like” without reading it and move on to the next. {Admit it. You’ve done it.}

There’s a law of diminishing returns that applies here, people. If you’re jumping up and down every day yelling “This post is great! Read it! Comment! Share!”, your fellow bloggers are going to stop believing you. Because no one is THAT good, EVERY day, day after day. And if you are, then you probably don’t need a damn Facebook group anyway. So when you DO write that killer post that SHOULD get 20 retweets…you’re not going to get it.

Think Boy Who Cried Wolf.

I’m much more likely to read your post shared in a Facebook group if you are selective. If you’re writing about Susie’s first soccer practice and it’s neither poignant nor hilarious nor gives me tips on how to handle my own kid’s first soccer practice, but rather, you’ve just written a play-by-play of her dribbling the ball…that’s great and all, but…I don’t want to share that. I’m sorry.

So, what are my personal rules for what makes a good Facebook group?

* Everybody wants to be there
* It’s sized so that everyone can feel she has a voice
* Participants agree on the objectives of the group and can commit to helping meet them
* A strong admin/leader who is communicative and organized
* Participants exercise discretion in requesting social sharing
* The group offers something more beyond promote, promote, promote

That’s just my two cents. I want to hear from you:

How many blogging-related Facebook groups are you in?
How many are you active in, and what makes those groups useful or valuable?
How do you feel about the level of self-promotion that goes on in Facebook groups?
Go.

Tagged as: facebook