Things Not To Do On Facebook

Creating a great Facebook page is a lot harder than it sounds. It's easy enough to create an account and keep supporters up-to-date about your organization's mission, but there's more to it than that. To create a truly effective social media presence on Facebook, you should look to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

HSUS has more than 100 pages on its Facebook network, with six full-time staffers and a social media intern dedicated to keeping them updated. If that sounds like a lot of work, it's because it is. That's the kind of effort you need to be successful with the popular social network.

During a session at the annual Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC), titled “Why I Don’t ‘Like’ You,” Carie Lewis, director of emerging media at HSUS, offered some suggestions about nonprofit should not do on Facebook:

• Post too much or too little.
• Only talk about yourself. Constituents can see right through it if all you’re doing is self-promotion.
• Post nothing but text, with little or no video or images.
• Sell, sell, sell. If all you do is push your products or ask for donations, it could feel like a used card lot.
• Ignore questions or disable comments. If constituents just wanted to read, they’d go to your website; social networks are social.
• Automate posts. Facebook users might not be on Twitter, so talk to them like Facebook users, sans hashtags.
• Not link to social media from your website.