Facebook Pages versus Facebook Subscriptions
So I’ve been doing a little research about Facebook Pages, and I’ve figured out that only about 16% of the people who have ‘Liked’ my page actually see the updates when I post them. As I understand it, Facebook filters the broadcast of my updates to only those people who have ever clicked on a previous entry, and then occasionally to other people who ‘Like’ the page. To me, that kind of defeats the purpose. I don’t spam entries all day long maybe twice a day at most), but I’d like people to know when something is going on.
So I’m going to open up Subscriptions to my personal Facebook profile, and move the feed from my blog over to that in the hopes that subscriptions are a little more efficient. You’ll only see posts I tag as public, but it should be easier for me to manage.
For those people who are already my ‘friends’ on Facebook, you don’t have to do anything.
For those people who are fans, but not personal friends, you can go to http://www.facebook.com/joe.beernink and click the Subscribe button in the top right corner under the banner photo.
My Facebook author page will stay active for the time being, and I may occasionally post really big news there. We’ll see if this plan works out. I’m not a big Facebook user, but it does have it’s purpose.
As always, you can go directly to the source of my posts at http://www.joebeernink.com and bypass Facebook all together. Rarely will I ever post something exclusively to Facebook. My blog / website will always be the source for all the important content.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding this move, or if you have any personal experiences that would help to improve the experience for all my readers.
Joe Beernink 
As a writer just beginning to grasp social media, I created a Facebook page. The problem is that my friends won’t see anything I’ve posted to my page, so I have to share my own page. I’ve no issue with self-promotion, but not when it’s as blatant as clicking “Share” on my own links.
I’m thinking of moving to “Subscribe” myself. Honestly though, Twitter’s been far better for connecting with folks I haven’t met face-to-face yet. 🙂
I think Twitter is great for reaching people who are already fairly active in social networking–probably the best tool there is. But for those who are a little less well versed, Facebook is still king. Knowing how to use the power of Facebook (without giving up your material) is key. I tried the pages, didn’t get the results I wanted, and now will try the subscription model. Since I’m just starting out, it’s not too early to try both. Mary Robinette Kowal has done a great blog entry on exactly this topic, and she prefers subscription over pages.
I guess we’ll see.