Content on Facebook: What Separates a Popular Fan Page from the Rest?

Facebook fan pages are an excellent way to track and share new products with consumers. As always, content is king, and you may be surprised by what the most important factors of Facebook content are. There is a large difference between generally active fan pages and fan pages with extremely active fans, and only part of it has to do with the previous popularity of the brand. By examining the returns on a variety of different surveys and reports I was able to elucidate what allows a Facebook fan page maximize its impact.

Owner Content

Pages with over 1 million fans have 3 times as much owner-generated content, compared to the average fan page. The most popular types of content, in order, are:
Image with text
Image
Video
Text
External link
Poll

Among pages with over a million fans, the average had 70.4 pieces of owner-generated content. The top reasons fans choose to follow a page include:
Being treated in a special way by the brand (95%)
Be spokesman for brand (94%)
Talk/interaction (77%)

The top two reasons to follow a brand are for promotional benefits (84%) and because the fans already enjoy the product (89%).

83% of fans would like more exclusives from the Facebook page, whether via special offers or Facebook-only content. In general, fans appreciate pages that have numerous applications (such as games) that are exclusive to Facebook. In order to raise the value of liking a brand on Facebook it is important not to duplicate content from other sources, such as Twitter.

The most important content, whether it be text or app, has a specific call to action for the fans. An especially successful campaign for the NBA had fans fill out a poll asking questions like, “Which dunk was best?” After the fan took the poll, it was shared on their wall and friends with similar interests would take the poll as well, while also friending the NBA. This drove millions of hits to the NBA.com website as well as boosting their fan page.

Another way to successfully gain fan interaction is to ask them for their opinion, such as an Anheuser-Busch campaign where fans chose the design of their next beer bottle. A sense of competition can help fans enlist their friends for their “side.”

It is useful to remain interactive with your fans conversations, but posting too often in fans discussions make them feel like they’re being monitored. Wall posts can attract a lot of attention and maintain fan interaction, but there is not a significant correlation between the number of wall posts and the popularity on a page—an active wall does not necessarily mean a popular page.

Frequency of posts are extremely important. The fan needs to feel that there is a reason to check into the Facebook page often, but too frequent content is also the 2nd most cited reason for unfriending a fan page. The best choice is generally thought to be 2-3 posts a day.

Lastly, people that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook than non-mobile users; it is important owner content is viewable to mobile fans.

Fan Content

The top reasons fans join a brand page is to,
Find discounts (42%)
Just love products (33%)
Get latest news on products (24%)
Give company ideas on how to improve products (12%)
Get customer service (12%)
Complain (6%)

Fans enjoy feeling like they’re being treated in a special way by the brand (95%) when they join the fan page. 94% wish to be a spokesman for the brand, but only 77% look to fan pages as a source of talk and interaction. 49% of the average Facebook users consider it a source of entertainment; only 32% consider a source of communication.

If you fan a page on Facebook, it is likely you use the product regularly or occasionally (84%). Enticing users to try a product should not occupy the bulk of your content, as it is likely your fans already use it.

Pages with more than one million fans have 60 times more fan-generated content than the average Facebook page. The average user writes 25 comments on Facebook each month. But a large portion of this content is off-topic: 15% of posts are likely self-promotional and 6% are often non-sequiturs.

The top reasons to unsubscribe from a fan page are:
No longer interested in brand (32%)
Information published too frequently (27%)
Information not interesting (22%)
Information not liked by fan (12%)
Not publishing frequently enough (7%)

Improving Visibility

The most popular categories for pages with over a million fans are celebrities, music, and products. The top liked brands are all entertainment/media. Facebook pages are most often found via ads (75%), friend invites (59%), and via search (49%). By generating fan content that they share on their wall to friends, you are likely to solicit more fans. 41% of fans found a fan page after receiving an e-mail asking them to join. The chances of a fan recommending a fan page on Facebook to a friend is 92%.

It is also important to maintain a constant look to all sites, whether your Facebook, Twitter, or personal page. This makes it visually identifiable as the official site of your brand.

Lastly, following your brand on other sources, such as Twitter, and replying to these mentions with links to joining your fan page (without seeming disingenuous) can help improve the number of fans you have.

Women and girls as young as 13 to get morning-after pill for free

Women and girls as young as 13 in Wales can get the morning-after pill free without a prescription from pharmacies, beginning Friday.

The legal age of consent for sex in Britain is 16, and some critics have slammed the policy as hypocritical and encouraging young girls to have sex.

The initiative is aimed at fighting teen pregnancy and was first announced last year by Welsh Health Minister Edwina Hart. She said new ways were needed for teenage girls to get access to emergency contraception. Wales has some of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Britain, which in turn has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in western Europe.

The morning-after pill contains hormones that stop women from becoming pregnant if taken within about three days of having unprotected sex. It is not suitable for women with certain health conditions like a history of blood clots or liver disease.

The morning-after pill is already free to women across the U.K. if prescribed by their doctor or a sexual health clinic, but Wales is the first region to offer the pill for free without a prescription in its more than 700 pharmacies, though there are similar small-scale policies in parts of England and Scotland. If bought over the counter, the pill typically costs about 25 pounds (US$40).

Welsh officials said their plan focuses on preventing teenage pregnancies by offering sex education and condoms but that it is also necessary to introduce wider use of the morning-after pill.

"While (condoms) remain the best form of contraception, from 1 April, pharmacists in Wales will be able to provide the morning after pill to individuals and provide discreet counseling and advice on contraceptive use," said the Welsh Assembly government. "Pharmacists have a key role to play in the reduction of unwanted pregnancies, especially when coupled with advice."

Some critics called the initiative superficial and doubted it would have much impact on the teen pregnancy rate.

"This will be looked upon as a quick fix for girls," said Josephine Quintavalle, founder of the Christian group Comment on Reproductive Ethics. "It gives them carte blanche to do whatever they want without talking to their parents."

Elsewhere in Europe, the morning-after pill is available in Germany with a doctor's prescription and is free for women under 20. In France, teenagers under 18 can also get the pill for free at a pharmacy without a prescription or their parents' consent. In Scandinavia, the morning-after pill is available to teenagers over 16 in pharmacies but the age limit is not strictly enforced. The pill is free in youth clinics but must be paid for in pharmacies.

Sara Ramirez on Jimmy Kimmel Live

About Sara Ramirez: She’s blessed with a rich, smoky voice and has the acting chops to take full advantage of it.

Prior to Grey’s Anatomy, Sara Ramirez was seen in the Broadway smash-hit Monty Python’s Spamalot as Lady of the Lake, for which she earned both a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical and an Outer Critics Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.

Sara graduated from the acclaimed Juilliard Drama School. Shortly after graduation, she made her Broadway debut starring as Wahzinak in Paul Simon’s The Capeman. She followed that with a starring part in the Gershwins’ Fascinating Rhythm, for which she received an Outer Critics Circle nomination. In 2001, she was in Broadway’s A Class Act, a musical biography based on the life of Ed Kleban, in the role of Felicia. Off-Broadway, Ramirez has performed in The Vagina Monologues with Tovah Feldshuh and Suzanne Bertish.

Sara’s television appearances include: NYPD Blue, Law & Order: SVU, Third Watch and Spin City, plus several pilots.

Sara’s concerts have included Martinis at the Martin, Sara Ramirez with Hollis Resnik at The Ravinia, Bravo Bernstein (MTW’s 20th Anniversary gala concert) at the Hudson Theatre and The Barrington Stage Company Gala, where she sang “Wanting Her More” from The Game.

 

A Visual Poem Even

Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University (left), presents the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism, in print or online or both, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to Holland Cotter of The New York Times.

Kurt Schwitters made no categorical distinctions between his art (painting, collage, sculpture, design, installation), his writing (poetry, essays, children’s stories) and his performances. To him they were all integral parts of a one-man cultural movement.



These collages have an ambiguous dynamic: they’re festive, but they’re not benign. Thought of in terms of sound, they could be fireworks or gunfire.


Hanover Merzbau - Even the immaculate-white Hanover Merzbau, in a much-traveled full-scale reconstruction from the 1980s by the stage designer Peter Bissegger, feels claustrophobic and tomblike. To Schwitters this precursor of contemporary installation art was Merz in excelsis, a fit container for everything he cared about. But it isn’t an opening-out, heart-gladdening utopian space. It’s the equivalent of a Joseph Cornell box: a repository for relics, secrets and occult signs, a personal theater, and a retreat.

Even in his own time Kurt Schwitters was hard to get to know. He made contradictory impressions on people who encountered him. To those who knew him through his performances he was an extrovert: a large, hammy guy with big ideas and a big voice, relishing the role of clown. But he could quickly drop into loner mode, shy away from company, rebuff unsought friendship, assert the middle-class proprieties he grew up with. After bouts of what seemed like compulsive extroversion, he spent long stretches on his own. And the dozens of collages and assemblages at Princeton suggest how he used that time. Meticulously puzzled together from paper, fabric, wire, scrap wood and other everyday materials, these pieces are the work of a sorter and measurer, a concentrator, a tabletop worker, someone who found satisfaction — more than that, comfort — in up-close, fine-grained aesthetic control. Even when hermetic and melancholic, as many of them are, the collages are a delight, transcending the number-crunching, language-mangling modern world they reflect. And when they’re joyous, they have a true in-love-with-life lift, with hints of nature blooming through. - HOLLAND COTTER NY Times

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/arts/design/kurt-schwitters-exhibition-at-princeton-museum-review.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha28

The need to pray

Biblical Capitalism

Disgruntled parents

President Porfirio Lobo
President Manuel ZelayaTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - The Honduran government wants to impose a law aimed at ensuring the country's frequently striking teachers show up for work the number of days legally required. Teachers responded by walking off the job. Disgruntled parents - who would get greater oversight over schools under the proposed law - complain their children spend more days at home than in school. The three-week old teachers' strike has become a catalyst for a wider political movement against the government, and to demand the return from exile of ousted former President Manuel Zelaya. At least one teacher has been killed and more than 50 people have been injured in clashes with police, in some of the worst unrest since the months following the June 2009 coup that toppled Zelaya. "The protest will continue and the regime will not break us with repression because people who don't fight never triumph," said Jaime Rodriguez, director of the Federation of Teachers' Organization, which has 70,000 members. The teachers are also demanding six months of unpaid salaries for 6,000 teachers. The Education Ministry insists that salary payments are up to date and the protests are more about destabilizing the government of President Porfirio Lobo. Teachers' strikes are a way of life in Honduras dating back to the 19th century and they gained momentum in the 1960s when teachers won a salary raise from five to seven dollars a month. Most teachers now earn between $600 and $800 a month, just enough to cover basic family expenses, according to government figures. Over the past 10 years, schools have held classes an average of 125 days a year, far below the 200 mandated by the government, according to a recent study by the Inter-American Development Bank, which that blamed constant strikes over salary payment delays and demands for wage hikes. "Teachers are always looking for excuses to be on the streets and abandon the classrooms," said Maria Saravia, president of the National Parents' Association. "They don't teach. They always demand more and more salaries." Lobo has declared the current strike illegal and is pressing on with efforts to push through the "Law of Community Participation for the Improvement of Education," which would give parents, town mayors and local civil organizations more oversight to ensure that teachers show up to class. It is set to be discussed Saturday in town halls in all 298 of the country's municipalities. "The idea is that the teachers be in the classroom the required amount of time and that their work be evaluated by citizens and the local authorities where they work," said Juan Hernandez, the president of Congress. Teachers see it as an attempt to muzzle their right to protest. "They are trying to control us and pit us against the community," said Edwin Olivia, a teachers' union leader. "We will not allow it." - FREDDY CUEVAS