Facebook Pages Do Not Replace Web Sites

By Mark Evans in Social Media 2 Comments Tags: , ,

I was approached earlier this week by reporter looking at the growing number of companies embracing Facebook Pages. As we went back and forth Q&A via e-mail, I couldn’t help but get the impression the angle he was trying to pursue was how the value or need for a Web site is disappearing.

It’s an interesting idea but it is not something a company should pursue. While there are many benefits to having a Facebook Page, it is not a replacement for a Web site. The biggest reason is a Facebook Page and Web site fill different roles. Together, they form a powerful one-two punch to distribute information and content, and serve target audiences in different ways.

Facebook Pages are sexy, dynamic and a platform to actively engage with consumers; Web sites are solid citizens that provide companies with consistency and a place to deliver information that likely wouldn’t see much reception from Facebook users.

Here’s the biggest reasons why Web sites still matter:

1. Companies don’t own their Facebook Pages. They create them and spend money to enhance and operate them, but Facebook Pages are owned by Facebook. If Facebook wants to change the rules, the interface or the features, they can do it even if a company wants to keep its Facebook Page as is.

2. Web sites are corporate assets they manage and control. Regardless of what happens to Facebook or the whim of Mark Zuckerberg, a Web site serves the needs of a company and provides it with a way to serves it target audiences, not Facebook’s.

3. Web sites can also be social and sexy. There’s no reason why good design and the integration of social media can’t make a Web site more engaging and interesting. A Web site may not have the social appeal as Facebook but it can be a lot more than a place to see senior executive bios and financial reports.

4. A Web site is a content machine, particularly those that have blogs. One of the fundamental pillars of social media is being able to use different services to distribute content. This is where a Web site offers huge value as a resource companies can use to direct people to different content via social media.

5. Simply because Facebook has 600 million users doesn’t mean it will be around for ever or that it serves the needs of everyone. It’s highly unlikely but Facebook could fall out of favour. At the same time, there are Facebook users who may not want to look at corporate information on a Facebook Page. And there are people not on Facebook – as difficult as it may be to believe.

6. There are many people who are unable to access Facebook at work, which means it makes no sense to only have a Facebook Page if it means cutting people off from access to your corporate digital presence.

Bottom line: Facebook Pages are wonderful and useful but they complement a corporate Web site, not replace it.

(Note: This post was originally published on the Sysomos blog.)

Can Facebook Save the Comment?

By Mark Evans in Blogs, Social Media 2 Comments Tags: , , ,

You remember the blog comment? Back in the day, it was the thing to do on social media. What a novelty to opine, correct, rant or inform about a published article in real-time to a global audience.

Then along came Twitter and Facebook, and the comment got shoved into the corner like an old toy with chipped paint and a missing wheel. There have been valiant efforts to resuscitate the comment by start-ups such as Disqus and IntenseDebate but the comment remains a social media second-class citizen (arguably along with the podcast).

But is there new hope for the comment? Does the launch of Facebook Comments mean the comment could regain some of its lost lustre? While it has only been a week since some blogs were able to start using it, Facebook Comments shows interesting and intriguing potential.

Putting aside any issues you may have with Facebook gaining access to even more of your data (no small task given the magnitude of Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitions), Facebook Comments has a real shot of revitalizing the blog comment because it offers a new way to provide it with a universal platform. Rather than being stuck inside a blog post, a Facebook-powered comment benefits from the social clout of that having more than 600 million users offers.

For bloggers, it means the dividend of attracting a comment – no small task in the scheme of things – can be distributed to a much wider audience, who can then discover the comment and, hopefully, click through to the blog. Given comments are one of the things that sustains most bloggers, the ability to use a comment system on steroids is a serious temptation – even if means selling your soul to the devil.

For people who leave comments, Facebook Comments provides a much broader platform to have their opinions seen and read. You have to understand the blog commenter is a strange beast. Not only do they read blog posts but many actually leave insightful commentary. It’s an investment of time and energy, which is why their efforts are so appreciated by bloggers who slog away with little financial reward.

Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and Facebook Comments come with a pretty high price tag. For bloggers, it means surrendering your comment system and its data to Facebook. For commenters, it means there’s no such thing as an anonymous comment. As well, a comment can appear on Facebook as well as other blogs using Facebook Comments so there’s no such thing as just leaving a comment for a particular forum.

Facebook Comments may not be perfect and it may not be the best solution to the plight of the blog comment, but it does illustrate a new approach to bring the blog comment back from the social backwaters.

One final note: You’ll see that I’m not using Facebook Comments despite some of the benefits it offers. Why not? The biggest obstacle is I have little interest in giving more information to Facebook. Second, I want to control and manage my comments, which is I’ve tried and backed away from Disqus and IntenseDebate.

For more thoughts about Facebook Comments, check out TechCrunch, which has has discovered the critics and trolls have strangely disappeared.

Smashing Magazine also has a lengthy and insightful post with the provocative title “Where Have All the Comments Gone?”. Robert Cringely weighs in on how Facebook Comments is another blow to the loss of anonymity on the Web.

2011: The Year of Social Media Reckoning

By Mark Evans in Social Media 5 Comments Tags: , ,

The rise of social media in the last couple of years has been fun and definitely interesting. Millions of people and companies have embraced the various services, even though many had no idea of how they would be used or why. But it didn’t matter because social media was so new that everyone wanted to experiment and dabble.

But like any wild party that comes to an end, people eventually have to sober up and take stock of what’s happened. And the same holds true for social media. After the enthusiasm and experimentation, there is a growing sense that many companies are looking at their social media efforts in a new and demanding way.

It’s not enough any more to be doing social media. The focus is shifting to the benefits of social media and what it’s generating for the business – be it Web site traffic, leads, sales or better customer service. It was not that long ago that being on social media was enough of a competitive difference. But this is no longer the case.

Now, companies want tangible evidence social media is contributing to overall operations. Like any corporate activity, social media must earn and keep its place. It is a matter of recognizing whatever resources and money being allocated to social media is not going something else. As a result, the ROI of social media is becoming a growing consideration to measure and justify how money and resources are being spent.

This is actually a positive development because it will make social media more than just a digital novelty that is being done because everyone else is doing it. Taking a more pragmatic approach to social media hopefully means companies will be more focused on making sure their strategic and tactical efforts are implemented properly.

In many respects, it means embracing what I describe as “social relevance”, which involves harnessing social media to make a business operate better or gain a competitive edge. It means focusing on a company’s strategic and tactical goals for social media, and then adding other elements such as the different services, influencer outreach, monitoring, and tactics on top of it. (See the graph below).

A more serious focus doesn’t mean social media will be less fun or exciting but it does suggest companies could be more discerning in how they use social media and the potential benefits before jumping into the fray. There will be plenty of opportunities for social media to evolve and resonate but the corporate landscape is changing….and that is a good thing.

Time to Pull the Trigger on the iPad?

By Mark Evans in Apple/iPod 7 Comments Tags: , , ,

I should have an iPad but I don’t…yet. As someone immersed in the digital world personally and professionally, an iPad should be part of my technology tool kit. As well, it’s difficult to tell people about the wonders of something when you have little experience actually using it.

In other words, it’s embarrassing not to have an iPad but I have somehow managed to justify it. Some of my “excuses” are I already have a MacBook Pro and an iPhone so I’ve got the “iThing” covered. As well, I’m not sure if there’s a fit or a compelling need within my technology tool kit. And then there’s the reluctance to purchase the first iteration of any new product, particularly given Apple’s habit of making the next-generation so much better.

But is now the time to bite the bullet and buy an iPad2? Is the newer, sleeker, thinner and faster iPad2 simply too compelling to resist? Has Apple eliminated the “barriers to entry”?

The answer is “Absolutely….definitely…I think so.” In other words, I’m closer to buying an iPad2 but not completely convinced…yet. As much as the iPad is uber-cool, I’m still questioning whether I need/want it or whether it’s the best option given the plethora of tablets hitting the market.

Some of my issues with the iPad include the lack of a USB connection and the inability to tether it to an iPhone (or another wireless device) without a “crack”. At the same time, I’m curious about Android’s “Honeycomb” operating system for tablet devices, which has been much touted.

In other words, I’m still torn about the iPad. That said, if I was walking by an Apple store AND they happend to have an iPad2 in stock AND there were a few dollars burning a hole in my pocket, you never know what could happen.


E-Mail: The Termite of the Web

By Mark Evans in Social Media No Comments Tags: , , ,

I love e-mail.

Well, let me put it another way: I get a lot of value from using e-mail, and spend a lot of time in my in-box. Some of it’s personal but much of it is for business to market, sell, do business development, send proposals and reports, answer questions, and manage projects. A day without e-mail is like a day without….well, a phone.

In that context, it has been interesting to hear people suggest social media is going to kill e-mail because there are other ways to communicate such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Yet despite the growth of social media, e-mail is not only alive and well but even social media users are active e-mail users. Go figure.

According Merkle, 87% of Internet users checked personal e-mail daily in 2010, a number that hasn’t changed much in the past four years. Among people with a separate account for business, 60% checked daily, down just 1% point since 2008.

So why is e-mail the indestructible “termite” of the Web? It may have to do with the fact e-mail is a centralized and personal place business and personal needs. It establishes a digital presence and identity that is complemented by social media as opposed to be replaced by social media.

For example, many people use Facebook to send messages but it’s not something that would become someone’s “inbox”. People feel like they own their e-mail inbox whereas you’re “renting” on Facebook or Twitter, which allows direct messaging.

Now, there is an argument younger people prefer to use things other than e-mail to communicate. That may be true but eMarketer made an excellent point that while the 18-to-29-year-old demographic may not be big e-mail users, they’re all over social media – and that social media users are active e-mail users. It suggests this demographic will likely use e-mail even if it’s not their primary tool right now.

To me, e-mail is a vital medium and pillar of the Web because it lets me communicate for a variety of reasons, I control and manage it as opposed to a third-party, and it’s a service that everyone uses. Look at e-mail as the telephone – despite the growing number of ways to communicate, no one has given up their telephone number. The same goes for e-mail.

Rockmelt, Anyone?

By Mark Evans in Browsers, Social Media 3 Comments Tags: , , , ,

In November, Rockmelt burst onto the scene as the new (and latest) social browser. It helped the start-up is financially backed by Marc Andreessen, and it’s a browser with a strong dose of Facebook.

Since Rockmelt made its debut, it has disappeared from the scene. There’s no chatter about Rockmelt, no sign it is gaining market share, and no one in my social-happy circles seem to be using it. In other words, Rockmelt seems to have melted as opposed to rocketed.

So what happened? Why has Rockmelt fizzled after such a strong kick-off?

I think part of it is Rockmelt’s heavy focus on Facebook, making it a Facebook browser as opposed to a social browser. It may also be due to the reality the browser market is extremely competitive with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari dominating the scene. This makes it difficult to establish a foothold unless a new browser is fantastic or launched by a strong player such as Google.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Rockmelt is it wasn’t launched by Facebook. So while it’s a Facebook-dominated browser, it’s not part of Facebook. My sense is Rockmelt would be a much bigger success if was the much rumored F-browser as opposed to a plucky start-up that was seemingly created to be acquired by Facebook.

If Rockmelt was the F-browser, it would have the backing and clout of Facebook and, as a result, would have an easier time convincing Facebook user to adopt it. It would probably have tighter integration with Facebook and be closer aligned with with Facebook’s new features.

Instead, Rockmelt sits in an awkward place. It’s trying to be a social browser but it’s a difficult place to establish a foothold. For people who remember Flock (aka the original social browser), it’s not clear whether people are looking for a browser that embraces social media.

At the same time, Rockmelt’s biggest obstacle may be people are happy with the other browser choices. It may be Rockmelt was a victim of bad timing in that the new kid on the block status was claimed by Chrome, leaving Rockmelt on the outside looking in.


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