Comments on: Facebook: Fan Pages vs. Groups for HigherEd Offices

By: Tom Krieglstein

Tom Krieglstein — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:15:32 +0000

To add another one to your list. Groups aren’t allowed to do Photo Albums, Fan Pages are.

By: 7 Awesome Reference Charts and Diagrams | vsellis.com

7 Awesome Reference Charts and Diagrams | vsellis.com — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:30:13 +0000

[...] Facebook Page vs Facebook Group – by Howard Kang Facebook Page vs Facebook [...]

By: Librarian by Day » Libraries Think Twice about a Facebook Page

Librarian by Day » Libraries Think Twice about a Facebook Page — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:22:13 +0000

[...] and Pages have been compared so many places I’m not even going to attempt to, but I don’t see this issue on any of the lists. [...]

By: SXSW Notes » The Web In Higher Education: What’s Different?

SXSW Notes » The Web In Higher Education: What’s Different? — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:45:12 +0000

[...] Law School – pages or groups? Pages: top level Groups: more niche HowardKang.com has good [...]

By: Howard Kang

Howard Kang — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:55:23 +0000

@Daniel – With the new updates and integration with the stream, I think it should all be fine. My argumentation for pages really is based on the fact that as an organization, you want a general entrance. Groups are great, don’t get me wrong, but there’s more work involved, the look & feel is awkward, and it’s best suited for deeper interaction. You’re exactly right when you say that groups are good for continuing conversations!

@Don – Thank you very much. I attended his World Wide Rave webinar and am definitely planning on reading the book. Thanks for commenting!

By: Don Kojich

Don Kojich — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:52:34 +0000

I like your work and thoughts. I am working on ways to use web 2.0 to tell our story to many different audiences. You might want to read World Wide Rave by David Meerman Scott.

By: Daniel Patricio

Daniel Patricio — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:26:56 +0000

I agree that Facebook Pages have some interesting features but in application they don’t really perform. The ‘updates’ of the pages are nowhere near as effective as inbox messages that come with groups.

I have been experimenting with pages for several clients and I have found that the groups are far more effective at continuing conversations.

In the next few weeks they are planning to ramp up the pages, I am hoping the activity and interaction are a priority as well.

By: Howard Kang

Howard Kang — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:22:06 +0000

@Courtney – Thanks for the feedback!

@Kathy – Glad the information could serve to be useful. Hopefully Friday’s post will be as well!

@Jim – I agree with you completely. The page vs. group discussion I addressed mainly was where should we focus our attention for recruitment & awareness. I really do believe in creating community on a smaller scale, but students are usually the one forming groups. Before Facebook Gate 2013 most incoming student groups were organized by students and it was a great place where they could dig in and discuss things like roommates, questions, etc. with each other. Pages can only serve as hubs, not the end-all. Thanks for bringing up that great point!

@DW – Yes, very good point. Something I should have mentioned in the post. I think I will append the post now for others to clarify.

By: DW

DW — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:20:08 +0000

Howard, we also have hit on this distinction in our office: pages are more for long-term efforts and groups are for meant for more short-term things.

For example, your school should have a page. But a place for incoming students each year to organize and meet each other, that should be a group.

Nice post!

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:56:30 +0000

Fantastic post, Howard. This is something that I’m wrestling with now as I talk to Admissions people about setting up “Accepted Students” groups. However, I disagree just a bit.

While I very much appreciate the ability to add apps to Facebook Pages, I tend to come down on the side of using groups. Its partially an idealistic thing… My feeling is that the primary goal of a Facebook strategy should be to build community and establish relationships.

Pages reek too much of advertisements to me… They are places to reinforce your brand and push your product. Generally speaking, I think THAT should be the job of your institutional website, not your Facebook Page.

The truth is that, practically speaking, it doesn’t make much of a difference which you choose. But I think that Facebook is about people, not brands and institutions. The more you can frame your strategy around users and their connections with each other, the more successful you’ll be.