Tea at Trianon: A Post Facebook World?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

A Post Facebook World?

From Social Media Today:

What if you woke up tomorrow and you suddenly had to pay to post to your org’s Facebook page, or at least had to pay in order to have anyone at all see what you posted? Would you be able to just re-tool the content strategies for your other social media channels and re-create any lost engagement, web traffic referrals, sales, leads or whatever else it is that you’re currently getting from Facebook on those channels? Or would your whole social media strategy be dead in the water?

If it’s the latter, don’t worry...but do start thinking about it because it’s becoming glaringly apparent that the day is fast approaching when you’ll be waking up to this exact reality. And as we in the nonprofit world know, sadly we’re usually the last to know these things because we learn what Facebook is doing pretty much as they do it, not in advance through our ad reps (ha!) or other inside intel (double ha!).

I’d suggest starting by looking at what you’re currently getting from Facebook, as well as what you’re putting into Facebook. Is Facebook driving traffic back to your website? Are you engaging with members or customers there? Are you putting a lot of time into coming up with graphics to go with your posts, or spending time moderating a Facebook group?

Maybe start thinking about some other ways you might make up for that lost traffic, or other places you might be able to engage with people, as well as maybe ways you could try to improve engagement on other social media channels that have played second fiddle to Facebook all this time.

Take a look at Google Analytics and see which social media channels are driving traffic and engagement now, and think about beefing up your use of and/or presence on those sites. For instance, if Facebook is currently driving the most referral traffic, but Pinterest is second and Twitter is third, think about what you may or may not already be doing on those channels, and what you might do better or differently if you were able to shift staff or outsourced resources to those channels. Then start doing it. No need to wait until Facebook forces your hand; start now and you’ll be glad you did when the day does finally come when Facebook is completely pay-to-play. (Read more.)