Chronology of a Successful Facebook Group: The “Save Business 2.0″ Example
Posted by Sebastien on the 2007/07/19 at 01:42
in Business 2.0, Digg.com, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Magazines, Social Media, Social networks -
Efforts to save Business 2.0 magazine via a Facebook group are going very well. We currently have 500 members (including a large number of tech influencers) after only two days and we’re getting traction in multiple media (ValleyWag, Advertising Age, Fast Company and a variety of blogs).
As the “Official ‘Save Business 2.0′ blogger”, here’s my theory of what I think happened to get to this result as quickly.
1) I was the original sneezer after seeing the New York Times article talking about the potential shutdown of the magazine. I wrote a Facebook status update that said “Sebastien is sad to think Business 2.0 magazine might fold in September”. As I’m using Facebook for networking and I’ve been adding many friends since Robert Scoble talked about me last Saturday, I reach out to 250+ “friends” with my update.
2) One of my friends, Colin Carmichael, picks up the news via my status update, decides to create the group and invites me.
3) I blog about the group in the Praized blog.
4) My blog post gets picked up by Techmeme and is attached to the original New York Times article. It’s the first broadcast about the creation of the Facebook group.
5) Someone from Business 2.0 (or someone close to the team) finds my blog post via Techmeme and sees that Colin has created a group.
6) A good portion of the Business 2.0 staff, freelancers and former employees joins the group. All these people are important influencers. As quoted by Advertising Age, “Editor in Chief Josh Quittner said he signed up for the group as a purely reflexive emotional gesture. “It choked me up — an old cynic like me,” he said.”
7) Close friends and business acquaintances (other tech journalists & bloggers) are invited to joined the group via the Facebook “Join this group” function.
As the Silicon Valley tech crowd is a tightly-knit group, they quickly reach out to their peers who then join the group.
9) In the meantime, I try to fan the flames using Digg and Linkedin. Digg does not work but Linkedin contributes to the conversation.
12) In the meantime, Colin talks with many media about the group and its purpose.
10) Valleywag picks up the news, sends it to another level.
11) Group members continue to invite other influencers, Advertising Age picks up the news, reaching a more mainstream marketing population.
12) Snowball effect is in action as we get more and more media/blog coverage, more people joining and more people inviting other people. 48 people added themselves to the group while I was writing this post.
13) What’s next? Business 2.0 is saved? Let’s continue the movement and save the magazine!
Now, this is just my theory. I think Colin and I played an important role by starting all of this but I think Techmeme played a critical relay role. And I think the use of the viral functionalities of Facebook by the influencers who joined the group in the early hours played a critical role as well. In addition, what I find fascinating is that we’ve had many people tell us that a) they created their Facebook account to be able to join the group and b) they ended up subscribing to the magazine after seeing the news and the efforts to save it. If that’s not the power of social media…
July 19th, 2007 at 02:18
In fairness, I think “Colin talks with many media about the group” is over-stating - though I may have inadvertently given you that impression, Seb.
I was interviewed by Nat Ives (AdAge) yesterday morning and have had a few conversations with prominent group members before and after that. That’s about it - the inherent viral nature of the ‘newsfeed’ took care of the rest.
July 19th, 2007 at 03:05
Well done, Sébastien and Colin. Thanks for sharing this overview - it’s fascinating from a community-building and a marketing perspective.
July 20th, 2007 at 11:00
[…] Est-ce que le pouvoir des réseaux sociaux est assez puissant pour sauver un magasine ? Une foule d’événements se sont déroulés depuis la parution de cet article du NY Times le 17 juillet dernier qui fait mention de la fermeture possible du magasine Business 2.0 (en passant, c’est mon magasine préféré…). Sébastien Provencher en décrit très bien le déroulement sur son blogue. Tout a commencé lorsque Sébastien a mis le status suivant dans son profil Facebook : «Sebastien is sad to think Business 2.0 magazine might fold in September». Trois jours plus tard, le groupe Facebook «I read Business 2.0 - and I want to keep reading!» compte plus de 800 membres, dont plusieurs de l’équipe du magasine Business 2.0. De plus, l’histoire a fait la manchette de plusieurs blogues et médias influents. […]
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:06
[…] The catalyst that sparked this blog’s creation, however, is crystal clear. A week ago, a Facebook status update came across my FB news-feed that kicked off a social media phenomenon that is still swirling around me. Sebastien chronicles the events that followed on his Praized blog and there’s no need to repeat them here and I’m still struggling to synthesize what it all means. […]
August 22nd, 2007 at 07:18
[…] 1) Facebook Status Updates: I use the “status update” function as a micro-blogging tool (a bit like Twitter). It helps me put in words what’s on my mind in that specific moment and it captures my personal zeitgeist. It only takes a few seconds to write but people react to it. I usually receive one message a day from friends/readers reacting to my status update line. Don’t forget it’s a status update that triggered the Save Business 2.0 efforts. […]
January 16th, 2008 at 04:05
[…] FB news-feed that kicked off a social media phenomenon that is still swirling around me. Sebastien chronicles the events that followed on his Praized blog and there’s no need to repeat them here and I’m still […]
April 10th, 2008 at 09:17
[…] discovered the concept of latent networks and active communities last summer while trying to save a magazine by activating a community within a social network. At the time, I was fascinated by the […]