Dear
Facebook,
I'm
frustrated. And you better believe I'm going to tell you why.
I'm
an admin for 352 Media Group's Facebook page. But like many Facebook pages, we
have two admins. (Our CMO Peter is the other.) Between the two of us, we always
keep the page updated and make sure we have a cohesive tone for 352's social
media presence. But there's one thing that irks me about being an admin of a
page, dear Facebook: Why can't I comment as myself and can only comment as 352
Media Group on our Facebook page? You allow me to "like" something on
my company page from my personal account; I can even personally like a comment
my company makes. So, why are you discriminating against the comment itself?
What's
that? You need some evidence on why this would ever be needed? I'm so glad you
asked.
Exhibit
A: An inner office joke making it to mainstream social media
352
Media Group Field Days get a little rowdy. People get competitive; people get
hurt. It's tradition. So it was a big deal that an ambulance didn't make an
appearance this year. I originally updated our status with the first post.
Brent was correct: I did cut my finger at the BBQ, but compared to the torn
ACLs (yes, plural) of past events, a cut finger is child's play. I let it
slide; Peter, our other Facebook admin, obviously didn't. But because he wasn't
able to comment from his personal account, it made it look like we were just
retracting our statement — that, or a company with split personalities.
Moreover,
what if I wanted to tout my hula-hoop skills that brought my team a first a
place win even with a gimp hoop? What if I wanted to defend my beer-bottle
opening abilities because the bottle opener was so seriously flawed in its
design? But no, you've soiled both of those options. I can hear them now:
"Erin sure is a good hula-hooper, but bless her heart, she can't even open
a beer bottle."
Exhibit B: The too-good-not-to-comment
picture or video
Where
there is a Field Day, there is a Field Day video. This year's kind of rocked.
So naturally, Peter (as 352 Media Group) posted it on Facebook. We got
comments, and as good Facebook users, we wanted to comment back. The short
shorts and helmet cam weren't 352 Media Group's ideas, per say, they were
Peter's, but posing as 352 Media Group was the only way for Peter to
participate in the conversation and comment back. And since 352 Media Group had
already posted three times on the video, adding my comment to make a forth
would just be seen as ridiculous. We want to participate, yes; but we don't
want to seem over eager.
C'mon,
Facebook. You encourage us to be active users, but admins are severely limited
to just how much interaction we can have if we're stuck behind our company's
presence. Isn't the point of having a company Facebook page to show the
personality of said company? And if there are two social media marketers,
shouldn't there be two personalities portrayed, especially if Erin wants to
respond as Erin to something Peter as 352 Media posted. We are a team, mind
you; not one kid-at-heart grown man who is giving social media shot to try to
help out his company.
I
can't be the only disgruntled admin with this problem. In fact, I'm sure of it.
Your help center has a specific answer for setting up multiple admins for a
Facebook page, and if both (or all three, four, what have you) of those admins
are active engagers on their page, it's only logical they've run into the same
problem. So, where are the others? We need to band together for the greater
Facebook page good. I'm calling it the Campaign for Multiple Admin Comments for
now until something catchier comes along. Join me, won't you?
My
demand isn't out of line. I know you have the development capability to make a
setting that would allow me to comment as myself or as my company. So please,
Facebook, heed our requests, and we promise we won't make a single comment
about your privacy settings.
*
Yours
truly,
-Annoyed
Admin
*For one week.