Why Facebook?

Sometimes I help build web presences for organizations and small businesses. I advise them not to have a Facebook page. Usually, they set one up anyway, because they’re afraid not to. They think that everyone is on Facebook, and that if they’re not there, they’ll be sacrificing the attention of multitudes of eyeballs.

They think that Facebook is another way to promote their organization. It’s not. When you mention your Facebook page, you’re promoting Facebook, not yourself. You’re not engaging with anybody. There is nothing behind any of those pairs of eyeballs except a brain in a near-comatose state, looking for the next cat picture.

The Web is where you want to plant your flag. Facebook is not the web. It’s a ghetto that you can visit with your web browser. You’re already building a web page. That’s your storefront, your identity, your communications center. A Facebook page can only detract from your efforts.

But they have billions of members! It doesn’t mean anything. Today everyone on Earth will breath a nitrogen molecule that was also breathed by Euclid. That doesn’t make us more engaged with ancient Greek geometry. We’re just breathing the air. Anyone who can reach Facebook can also reach your web page. Don’t worry.

Groove gets it. They looked at the numbers, apprehended the massive lack of engagement from Facebook’s billions of ghetto dwellers, and ditched them. They are now putting their efforts into their web page, and it’s already paying off.

There is nothing that Facebook can do for you that you can’t do far better by building it in to your own website. Why promote Facebook when you could be promoting your own business? When people come to your site they’re interested in your organization; they’re already becoming engaged. You can turn them into customers or otherwise deepen their engagement. When they go to your Facebook page they’re just … on Facebook.