If you’re a (FB) fan of everything, are you really a fan of nothing?

I have a great business partner who rarely asks anything of me, so in those rare occasions when he does I try to deliver for him.

So the other day we were talking about Facebook and he mentioned how difficult it was to keep up with all the requests he gets to become a "fan" of things.  Not only that, he asked, "and who really has the time to keep up with all those things that come your way in the feed after you do become a fan." Then he asked, "why don't you write something about that in the blog?"

So in the spirit of not disappointing Josh, I'm now writing my thoughts on the subject and in a rare show of deliberation, I've actually spent some time thinking about it. The word "fan" comes from the word fanatic, which immediately makes one think of someone who is passionate about something and not someone who has a passing interest mainly because they were casually asked to follow a brand or a cause by someone else.

If you apply the "fanatic" test to all the things you currently have "fanned" on Facebook, my guess is that you would then remove at least half the things on your fan list right away.  And then a magical thing would happen, you'd actually be able to follow the things you are most passionate about without all the other crap getting in the way on your stream.

Facebook thought they had this issue nailed when they recently created the "News feed" separate from the "Live feed."  The News feed only highlights the people or things they you react to frequently and pares them from the pack.  For me that doesn't work because I click past the News feed to the Live feed because I'm afraid I will miss something.  So folks like me are back to square one.

For marketers is problem is a larger one.  When Facebook changed the Fan Page last year, marketers realized that the new fan stream was a great way to reach their fans, so the rush to create and market fan pages was on.  What marketers didn't quite count on is that ALL marketers would rush to do this at the same time, thereby creating the same issue marketers have in all other marketing channels, the need to apply enough creativity to break through the clutter.  Hence the race to create custom APPs, widgets, games and branded landing pages to separate themselves from the pack. Sounds a lot like creating great ads or TV spot to "interrupt" you while reading your favorite magazine or watching your favorite show or game, doesn't it? So where does that leave us as fans or marketers?

• Do some "fan page clean up":  I know your college roommate asked you to become a fan of his favorite band, but do you really need to see all their tour dates?  Really?  C'mon, really?
• Provide feedback in the form of comments or "likes" so marketers know what is breaking through the clutter and what isn't.
• Marketers need to create the type of content that does break through the clutter and also be mindful of how many times per day or week they update their status.  Cool video, blog post updates, links, solid information about sales or promotional opportunities that really offer true value come to mind.
• They also need to keep in mind that the stream is truly dynamic and to break through they may have to creatively repeat messages without actually just repeating them.  Picture an ad campaign with different ads that reinforce the same message.  All on a Facebook stream.  Without the heavy ad message.

Just some thought starters here.  But it comes down to this and forgive me for being a bit philosophical, and it goes back to the headline of this post…if you are a fan of everything, are you really a fan of nothing?  I can be a Mets fan and a baseball fan, but I likely can't be a fan of all 30 major league baseball teams.  I don't have the time, energy or frankly the interest to be.  It's the same principle on Facebook or in any other platform.  By becoming a true fan, you are being selective and providing valuable feedback and being a great friend to others by recommending only the things you are truly passionate about. 

You are also making the marketers work harder to break through the clutter so they can capture your attention and true devotion as a fan. I'm sure some will disagree.  Please do so below.  Agreeing is nice too.

Jon Newman

In 2002 Jon cofounded The Hodges Partnership and has helped to grow it into one of the country’s largest public relations firms (based on O’Dwyer’s annual rankings). Jon has taught communications as an adjunct professor at VCU, speaks regularly at conferences and meetings and blogs and tweets about public relations and marketing issues.

Read more by Jon