Robb Montgomery

Is it time to revisit your Facebook strategy? Should you have Groups vs. Pages. Fans vs. Members?

I have been doing a lot of research and writing reports for European clients to advise them on social media and mobile media strategies and am starting to turn some of that intel into action for my other full-time volunteer gig - running the Visual Editors charity.

Visual Editors is a non-profit foundation founded in 2004 to promote visual journalism literacy and has used an array of social networking tools to organize fundraising, meetups and training events around the world. It has been a sandbox for me and our members to get our hands dirty with emerging technologies and behaviors.
Our members have been, at times, years ahead of many other groups of journalists in adopting and adapting to the digital media landscape. VizEds members have been active for a long time in social media spaces like Facebook and Twitter.

But things mutate and change rapidly in this environment and it has been awhile since the non-profit had really examined its Facebook presence.

VizEds created a Facebook Group in 2007 (and attracted several hundred members) but this Mashable article made me realize the group might be better served with a Facebook Page that collects fans vs. members. We already have thousands of members on the Ning site where people critique portfolios, message each other and self-organize and self-manage groups.

Facebook is a different space and offers a different type of engagement.

We established a Facebook page a couple of years ago but did not know then how it might be used. The Facebook group seems to make more sense at that moment. What I am learning is that this page may be a better tool to complement what the charity already provides for members on Ning site, at the dot-org site, the Camp Versatile Journalism training site, our jobs feed (@Media_Pros) and on Twitter.

What has been your experience in managing your social media presence? What adjustments are you making as the patterns mature and the options and benefits start to emerge in a stronger profile?