Facebook Likefest: Fruitful or Frivolous?
Why would I do such a thing? Honest and shameful answer: pride. Who doesn't want to see a big "like" number, whether on Facebook or in any other venue? Yeah, I know the single most important like is to have God's stamp of approval through what Christ did on the cross, but doggone if my flesh doesn't do a Snoopy dance when someone likes me.
Once the shallow zing wore off, though, I started to wonder if there were any other benefit to increasing a Facebook Like #. So I did a little research, and here are the results...
Is there any value to random Facebook page likes?
"There is some value from having a large volume of people liking a page for SEO, social proof, and the fact that all these people still see the updates to your wall in their news feed."
(taken from PRLOG)
"Likes" have grown to be a measurement tool used by distributors and stores when deciding on stocking their shelves with little known brands, by advertisers who have made note of Facebook "Likes" before placing their ads in hard copy publications, and by any kind of business associate who regards "Likes" as a point of reference as to where a brand stands among their competitors."
(taken from Creative Concepts)
"Big companies like McDonalds and Coca-Cola have been collecting Facebook fans (likes) for quite some time because they have already discovered that all of those fans helped increase their profits."
(taken from Social Networking Success)
"The value in using social media is that every person, every Like, comes with their own network that can be activated in an instant, and at no additional cost, for the organization."
(taken from Allison Fine)
I realize that the Likes on my page aren't all from ardent gotta-buy-your-next-book-or-die kind of fans, but you know what? I don't care. For now, I'll just bask in the pretend world of being well liked.