I would like to open up a thoughtful dialogue about Facebook groups.
I’m trying not to be irritated, but alas – I am.
This notion of Facebook groups and promos is coming up in groups everywhere. In fact, I see it all the time, more and more. Can we just all get something out of the way first? Facebook groups are created by owners to build their businesses (there are exceptions, but just go with it).
That’s fine. We all know this. We join groups created by owners who are perfectly clear that the group is part of their business plan, and we join to:
1. Learn
2. Connect
3. Network
4. Grow our own businesses
5. Buy from them eventually
Facts. Right? Okay.
And when we join a group that has specific rules, we are obliged to abide by them because the owner is maintaining the costs associated with the group. Okay, duh. Another no brainer.
But there seems to be a line between “my group, my rules” mentality and what appears to be a micro-managing/dictatorship of the behavior of others on a public and free social network that irritates the hell out of me.
I was just in a discussion where a “promo” was not ONLY considered a link – BOTH as a post or as a link in the comments, BUT ALSO, if you asked someone to private message you or connect with you outside the group, if you left your email address, etc.
How can leaders dictate something like this?
I mean they can, of course, but it feels so…communist.
With a rule like that, then I have only ONE choice when I meet someone in a group that I want to connect with further. I can PM or friend them without their permission (which ironically, is another way to get banned).
So what gives?
Why the obsessive micro-managing of even certain phrases and ways of interacting? The No-Promos rule is easy, and we all can smell it a mile away. Harassment, excessive negativity…sure. Those perfectly posed shots with thinly veiled “this is what I do, aren’t I amazing?” posts. But asking someone to connect outside the group?!
The reason people join groups in the first place is to network.
So “said owner” can be all high and mighty on her horse about it’s her group, her rules, but does she not realize she WOULDN’T EVEN have a group of 6000 + if it was just a promo-fest of her stuff? That the environment of growth and networking is what attracts people to the community that then she can turn around and market to?
Part of the reason the audience is there is because of the freedom and opportunity it promotes!!
This kind of oversight is in my opinion, insulting.
Dictating what someone can say in a comment like, “PM me if you’d like to chat further” only furthers sneaky behavior, makes people feel like they can’t do anything, but just sit in a group like a duck, waiting to be sold to.
So, we all know that Facebook groups can be a beast to manage. It’s my theory that the more strict and stringent the rules, the more insecure the leader.
And this is where I want to take a moment and commend Kimra Luna, owner of Freedom Hackers group on Facebook – a group of 26k!!
…for walking the “my group, my rules” line so brilliantly…by keeping it promo free – more than a lot of groups with about 1/18th of the size, but also – recognizing the hustle, and the reality that people join groups to further their businesses, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
She is confident in her business and doesn’t need to waste time with minutia and sticking her nose in every conversation to smell out the possibility of a relationship building without her consent (…insert sarcasm here…)
To me, a good leader of a group knows how to “own” the group, and yet respect the organic and dynamic nature of it as a community that grows far bigger than one person.
Rant over.
xx Julie
PS. I have two groups (well more if you count all the private ones I run with my courses), but I try to “honor” the group, while owning it too. If you are an entrepreneur looking to live the laptop life, join me here. If you are ready for a little more mentorship and accountability, join me here. Or join me in both. And if you say something I don’t like, I won’t act like Mussolini.