Implications of The #Facebook #Subscribe Button - Pros and Cons

Since the launch of Google+ and it's success in recruiting users, Facebook has been adding new features frantically - the new photo viewing options, video chatting, new navigation bars, and most recently, the subscription button.

This new feature allows users to subscribe to updates, including photos, statuses and more, from people they aren't already Facebook Friends with. This may not seem like a big deal yet, but it opens a door to endless potentials for brands, celebrities and thought leaders for better broadcasting. Of course, on the flip side, with potential comes a great deal of risk.

Here are a few aspects I jotted down briefly:

 
Pros:

1. Facebook and Twitter just had a baby.

Facebooks, Google+, and Twitter are all unique in their own user interfaces and purposes. Twitter can be considered mass broadcasting through microblogging where anyone can tweet with or read other users' tweets, given that they're not private. Google+ is a more general interface that focuses more on user sectoring, and Facebook, the friend connector, allowing friends to catch up, learn more about, and maintain relations with one another without physically hanging out. 

However, this subscription button changes all that. Allowing users to follow others' updates without friending incorporates Twitter's broadcasting aspect, creating a TON of opportunities for celebrities, brands and others to broadcast their messages to a larger audience.

2. Better classifications of your friends and invisible stalking.

No more limited profiles, or friend requests. That's right. You no longer have to be friends with someone to stalk them if they enabled the subscription button. Also, you don't necessarily have to friend people you just met in order to see what they're up to until you hang out with them more.

With subscription, you can now classify your friends/ non-friends into lists so your updates are all categorized. You don't have to see updates of farmville or restaurant city any more. Just like twitter, you can categorize your news outlets, fashion tips, non-profit events, anything you wish so they are better organized. There are options to hide photo updates, video updates, and more from lists to make your feed more personalized.

Cons:

1. It just murdered the two-way connect flow

Facebook is unique in that it encourages a two-way communication. It's about friends and connection. The subscription button just threw all that out the window. It's true that Twitter itself focuses on engagement even though it's a free-for-all type of conversation, but the word "Facebook Friends" just got degraded.

2. New metrics needed

With public subscriptions, the measuring system just got complicated. Facebook Insights will have to come up with better metrics to measure subscriber activities.

3. Back to the Privacy Issue

I am sure most of everyone is social media savvy by now, but there are of course people who are still a little lost trying to catch up with all the tools bombarded their way. For people who want to use Facebook personally, the subscribe button may cause issues, as it allows non-friends to read your updates.

Changing its mission statement.

Just from first impressions, it seems to me that the subscription button is definitely a good move in terms of helping brands and celebrities work their marketing strategies. However, if Facebook were to follow its original 2008 mission of " “Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.” Then the subscription button is way out of its boundaries. Its new mission statement however, became “Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” This for me makes Facebook a lot more business and revenue oriented, and a little negligent of user interests.

What are your opinions on the new Facebook Subscribe button?

What you might also be interested in:

Facebook Subscribe Button: What It Means for Each Type of User

What Facebook's new Subscribe button means to brands and businesses 

The Complete Guide To Facebook’s Subscribe Button

It's just Twitter, what's the big deal?

It's just Twitter. What's the big deal?

Oh dear non-PR students/professionals. If it is JUST Twitter, why are Public Relations Agencies as well as renowned consumer brands bending over backwards to hunt for Social Media Talents?

Twitter, as I mentioned before, is relatively a new thing for me too, but here are some common phrases I've been hearing from others:

1. Not that many people use Twitter anyways what's the point?
You have to be kidding!

• 175 million registered users as of September 2010 (That's the whole population of Pakistan!)

• The average daily sign-up rate has been 460,000 new accounts in March 2011

• The average number of tweets = 140 MILLION a day. (Just imagine trying to spread a rumor by word of mouth... like the numerous death hoax spread around Twitter).

2. You tweet once or twice a day, I can do that, why hire a professional Social Media manager?


There are certainly different ways of using Twitter, and I presume none of them is "easy".

It's about interaction, finding the right people to interact with, making connection, providing feedback and a whole bunch of stuff.

You can definitely schedule a whole day to managing social media, it's a lot more work than you think it is.

With the right analytic tools, a brand can/needs to monitor what other people are saying about its products, how to respond, and interact. Some analytics tools now even analyze the spread of tone used to describe your brand (negative, unsatisfied, excited etc.)

Providing insightful news means posting more than just your usual Facebook promotions. Read industry news, current events, trends and more, then filter them, and find a good angle to tweet about.

Not only that, it's about how to use the stingy 140 characters with wit and creativity to capture your audience's attention.

Although it's blurry, Twitter CAN be scientific - using optimal tweet times, tweet scheduling, #hashtags, lists, and etc., to help you get your message out.


3. Twitter is just like the status portion of Facebook, why not just use Facebook since everyone is on it?

Apart from scrolling down to read my previous post, the following article should answer your question:

Why Many Businesses Are Adopting Twitter…instead of Facebook http://j.mp/bad9Wp 

4. I don't like to tweet/ have nothing to tweet about.

You don't necessarily have to be tweeting to benefit from Twitter. Just as there are thought leaders in the community and news broadcasters, doesn't mean you have to be one. You can benefit by following the right accounts depending on your interests to keep up to date on trends and news. Trust me, Twitter is pretty fast and up to speed with this.

Poor Twitter Misunderstood: What you can really do with it.

Why do you use Twitter so much? Twitter is stupid.
I used to be one of the people who didn't understand twitter (just 2 months ago. =P,) but now it has become my main source of news, insights, and much more.

Here are some of the common misconceptions of the use of Twitter and what Twitter really is.


The number of followers is the most essential aspect

Granted that the more followers you have the more exposure you get + the more people you reach out to, but it all comes down to how you interact with them or engage them.

Twitter is NOT just about broadcasting. People who follow you are there to connect with you. If you are there to just repeat the posts on your Facebook page, flyers, or company website, then you do not understand what Twitter is about.

Provide insights, interesting and relevant information, quality feedback. Engage yourself in meaningful conversations. Your followers will come.


Twitter is like taking the status component of Facebook and putting it on a feed. T/F?

Kind of true, but at the same time not really.

There are of course people who like to tweet "I am on the bus to school," or "Yay, I got my new Macbook Pro!" This seems to work out more for celebrities than for companies or individuals. Boring/mundane tweets don't work here. The question you should always ask is "So what?"

If you want to share with the world you're at an Italian restaurant, what's the spice to it?

Twitter is also kind of like mini-blogging. This works for short attention spanned people (like me), as it puts all the headlines and links in one big feed so I can just skim through and find the ones that interest me.


Businesses don't need to use Twitter

Twitter can be a good way to alleviate the barrier between the company and its public. We always talk about transparency right? Here's where you can get up close and personal. It's a faster way to interact with your public, to find out what they think, to get quality feedback or criticisms and respond quickly.

It's also a great way to manage a brand's image by seeing what kind of bad-mouthing people are doing or if you're awesome, all the free evangelists you have around!