![Fotolia 19661158 XS The Shelf Life Of A Facebook Like [graphic]](http://www.johnhaydon.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Fotolia_19661158_XS.jpg "A can of tomato soup isolated with clipping path")
The new Facebook Social Plugins enable any website to make their content social. Within the first week of these plugins going live, over 50,000 websites added them. A couple of weeks later, that number doubled.
One of the most popular plugins is the Facebook Like button. This enables users to recommend articles on your site to their Facebook friends – with only one mouse click.
The real value for nonprofits, however, isn’t in the ease of use, but rather what happens after the “like” button is clicked.
In my efforts to translate the implications of the Facebook Social Graph for a client, I created a simple diagram that shows an extremely plausible example of what might happen when three people “like” an article on a website.
The Shelf Life Of A Facebook Like [graphic]
Click here to download a large PDF version of The Shelf Life Of A Facebook Like [graphic]
A few observations:
- People will share content in ways they’re comfortable with.
- Relevance increases the likelihood of sharing. Regina’s friend Jenny, shares the article with specific people she thought of as she read the article.
- Many people will share content in ways you thought didn’t exist anymore (printing and mailing).
- A small percentage of people might repurpose. Two Blog posts were spawned in this example (Danny’s and Roger’s friend).
- People are more likely to share if they see the same article shared in multiple places.
- The strength of bonds between friends increases the likelihood that content will get shared. Jane only has 27 friends on Facebook, but they are her closest friends. She sees them in person regularly. She values their time, and they value what she shares.
- Conversely, negative feelings about how a person shared content in the past will kill any potential for further sharing. Being unaware of peoples boundaries (like Trisha) could cause you to unknowingly spam people.
- Comments added to a shared article can increase the likelihood it get’s shared, particularly if specific words are used.
- Although this graphic doesn’t include days of the week, Facebook users tend to share posts that are published on the weekend.
Now the important part. What do you guys think?
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