Anglin Public Relations frequently answers questions about the best type of Facebook page or profile to establish for a company, non-profit, special event or grassroots cause. The answer, of course, depends on the goals of the group. Below is a list of options, along with what we see as the benefits and limitations of each option.

Facebook Groups – Groups are great for communicating on a personal level and for smaller scale interaction around a cause. They are better for hosting a quick, active discussion and attracting quick attention. They can be user-generated or set up by an organization. Groups can be created by any user and about any topic, as a space for users to share their opinions and interest in that group. If youre a group administrator, your name will appear on that group. When you take actions on behalf of your group, such as posting on your groups wall, these actions will appear to be coming from you as an individual.

Capabilities:

· Able to be open to anyone, closed (where users must get administrator approval to join) or private (by invitation only).

· Able to send mass messages to group members that will appear directly in their inboxes (for less than 5,000 members).

· Able to host discussions.

· Able to post events, pictures, videos and links.

· Able to send invitations for events.

Limitations:

· If the group exceeds 5,000 members, the administrator can not send messages to all members.

· Groups are not indexed by external search engines like Google and can only be found through Facebook.

· Status updates do not appear in group members newsfeed.

Facebook Fan Pages – Pages are a more formal presence to share information about an organization with the larger public audience. Fan Pages are great for brands, businesses, bands, movies or celebrities who want to interact with their fans or customers without being connected to a personal account. They are better for long-term relationships with your fans, readers or customers. Pages will never display their administrators names. When you take actions on behalf of your group, such as posting on your groups wall, these actions will appear to be coming from the page. The page itself can not seek out and build fans. A personal account must suggest the fan page to their friends, fans must seek out the page on their own or Facebook ads can be purchased to target specific demographics encouraging them to become a fan.

Capabilities:

· Can create content that comes from the Page itself, so that content doesnt have to be linked to someone personally.

· Indexed by external search engines such as Google.

· Visible to non-Facebook users.

· Allows for more content than Facebook groups.

· Able to track visitor statistics through Page Insights.

· Able to send updates to fans through the Page and these updates will appear in the Updates section.

· Able to host discussion.

· Able to post events, pictures, videos and links.

· Status updates do appear in fans newsfeed.

Limitations:

· Can not send messages to entire groups inboxes.

· Can not send individual messages to fans inboxes. Only the administrator can send messages to individuals if they are friends of the administrator.

· While pages can send messages to fans update box, this box is checked less frequent (if at all) than messages in an inbox.

Notes: To send an update to fans–Go to Edit page and look in the right-hand panel youll see Send an update to all fans. These updates will appear in fans updates section.

Facebook Causes – Causes is an application than enables users to organize themselves into communities of action that support specific issues, campaigns or non-profit organizations. Use Causes to spread awareness about your work, recruit new supporters, launch fundraising campaigns and sponsor petitions.

Capabilities:

· Update friends on issues and media related to the cause.

· Raise money directly through the cause for any U.S. registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

· Facebook can process donations automatically via credit card, tally the results and report the donation activity via a public “scorecard” in the cause.

· Able to post pictures, videos and links.

· Able to host discussion.

Limitations:

· When asked to support a cause, a message is displayed to the user telling them that by joining the Cause, the user is granting access to all of their information, photos and friends. Many people are hesitant about allowing this and are therefore more selective in the Causes they will support.

Facebook Profiles – Profiles are set up to communicate with friends and relatives on a more personal level. Facebook profiles are generally not recommended for businesses or organizations.

Capabilities:

· Able to post pictures, personal information, videos and links.

· Able to send messages directly to a friends inbox.

· Able to alter privacy settings depending on personal preference.

· Able to post status updates.

· Status updates appear in friends newsfeed.

· Able to create events.

· Able to ask people directly to be your friend.

· Becoming someones friend is the least invasive way to connect. So some people are more willing to be a friend than they are to be a fan, a group member or a cause supporter.

Limitations:

· Doesnt allow for your business or organization to have an active presence online.

· Only appears in friends lists of friends which are often large. Doesnt get as much exposure as a page, cause or group which are often shorter lists.

· Can not send messages to all friends (unless you type each friends name individually).

Helpful Resources

Facebook Guidebook: http://mashable.com/guidebook/facebook/

Frequently Asked Business Questions: http://www.facebook.com/help/?search=business

Fan Page Ideas to learn from: http://mashable.com/2010/02/25/facebook-fan-page-ideas/

PR resource www.AnglinPR.com