Facing up to Facebook

As a 24-year-old who once was grounded for excessive use of MySpace and only intermittent use of my textbooks, I never imagined that someday Facebook would be listed as one of my job responsibilities. However odd it seems, I am indeed responsible for putting in face time on Facebook to expand my organization’s participation in the world of social media.

When I started my organization’s first Causes page on Facebook, I used my own personal Facebook profile. I figured I was already signed up and had my own account, so why create another one? I didn’t realize at the time that using my personal account meant that all the members of the Causes pages I create on behalf of my organization could see me (Christina Johns) as the creator of the pages or that I would become a public speaker for my organization via them.

Though not a conscious choice at the time, tying my private and personal Facebook page/identity to the work I was doing for my organization was one of the best (and most risky) decisions I’ve made.

I first saw the impact of using my personal account rather than an anonymous account for my organization when I began to thank members who joined our Causes page. I did this on a daily basis by sending short, personalized messages to their Facebook profile accounts (even if we weren’t “friends” and I couldn’t see their profiles). I couldn’t believe the response I received from sending out these little messages.

By far the best advice I have for growing a Causes page on Facebook is to always say thank you. People like to know that their participation means something, that in some way your page is better now that they’re a part of it. And the truth is, it is better. A simple “thank you” from an individual person — and not the organizational logo — sends this message loud and clear.