I’ve watch with amazement how Facebook has changed the semantics of words in our lexicon.  It’s forever altered what it means to be a “friend,” for better or worse.  With equal impact, Facebook has changed the meaning of “like.”  ”Friend” and “like” are fundamental words — words that shape who we are as individuals, a culture and, a society — especially if you believe the Sapir Whorf Hypothesis.

In practical terms, from the perspective of a business or nonprofit using Facebook as a platform for social engagement, how do the concepts of “Friend” and “Like” impact how we use Facebook?  And, specifically, how should you, a web application hack or marketing wonk, reason about how to deploy the concept of “Like?”

I think there has been a lot of confusion around Facebook “Like”s and the concept of Like continues to evolve.  For the uninitiated, here’s a simplified answer to how to use “Like.”

Please Like Us

Before getting started, if you like Charity Blossom, please “Like” us.   Go ahead — click the Like button to the right:

What Does This Mean?

Without getting too philosophical, Liking Charity Blossom means that you Liked our Page on Facebook.  So, in order to like us, we needed to create a Facebook page.  When you clicked the Like button above, you “Liked” that Page.  At this point, we can communicate with you through our Facebook page.  When we (where “we” is a Charity Blossom administrator), post a status update on the Charity Blossom page, our status likely gets stuffed into your Newsfeed.

Also, once you’ve liked us, you have a communication channel to us as well.

Pretty simple, eh?

Why It’s Confusing

We’ll conveniently ignore the deep linguistic issues around the meaning of “like.”  Rather, we’ll simply say that “Liking” something (e.g. clicking on a Facebook Like button), you’ve expressed a preference for something. Ambiguity arises when we reason about what “something” is.  For example, when you “like” Charity Blossom, you are abstractly specifying a preference for Charity Blossom, the company and our mission.  In concrete terms, you are expressing a preference for the Charity Blossom page on Facebook that we have created.

However, it’s possible to Like things other than our Charity Blossom page.  In fact, you can Like (all most) any Facebook “object.”  An object might be a Facebook application, a URL on the web, a Facebook comment…the possibilities are nearly limitless.

It’s up to the application program that implements the Like button that determines what is being liked when you hit Like.  For us, it’s our Facebook Page.

What This Means for You, a Business or Nonprofit

Current best practices say you should have a Page on Facebook.  And, you should implement Like so that people like this Page if you want visitors to express a preference for your business or nonprofit.  

You can then “Use Facebook as a Page” to communicate with people that have Liked your page. (Click on the “down arrow” on the upper right corner when you are in Facebook.)

Resolving Some Confusion

As a Facebook novice, there are few things that are complicated about “Like” and Pages.

• Facebook applications, arbitrary URLs (such as a URL to your home page), and your page are all distinct objects in the Facebook Open Graph.  So, when you implement “Like,” make sure you are attaching the Like to your Facebook Page.
• There is no such thing as a Facebook “Fan Page,” distinct from a Page.  Rather, there are Pages that may be liked.  People that like your page, are your “fans.”  Hence, the Page is colloquially known as a “fan page.”
• You can implement “Like” on any page on the web.  When a user clicks “Like,” you, the implementor controls what (Facebook object) is being liked.  (It’s probably unclear to the user what is actually being liked.
• If you implement “Like” so that it likes a URL not your page, you have less control over how to communicate with those that have Liked your Page.
• Facebook is rapidly changing and evolving.  So, how this all works will probably quickly change as well.

What’s Next?

Now that you’ve implemented Like so that fans are Liking your Page, what next?  First, it seems that being focussed on getting a lot of people to Like you is a key first objective.  (Good Job!)  You can now communicate with your fans through your Page.  However, beyond this, there are many things that you can do.  But that is subject for another blog post.  Stay tuned.

Still Haven’t Liked Us?

Go ahead — give us a Like!

Further, even if you all ready Liked us from our Charity Blossom website (www.charityblossom.org), please Like us again.  We made the neophyte mistake of originally attaching our Like button to the www.charityblossom.org URL object, not our Facebook Page.

Thanks!