Organizing With Facebook Pages
This guide is one of a series I’ve put together for political organizers and activists who want to use Facebook to make change. This piece talks about making a Facebook Page and using it to organize.
Figuring Out Facebook
A good way to get started on the platform is to check out Facebook’s Blueprint series of free instructional guides. They were created with ad agencies and professional social media managers in mind, but work for anyone. Facebook is so large because it’s become a very sophisticated advertising and engagement platform. Once you have a basic understanding of how to set up and manage your presence on Facebook, you can get started with organizing.
Setting Up Your Facebook Page
The first step is to create a Facebook Page for the group or cause you want to organize around. A primer on Facebook Pages is here, with a guide on the actual creation process here.
When picking a name for your Page, try to title it something that is very ‘searchable’ but also accurately describes what you’re trying to do. If you are attempting to organize for a local candidate or issue, you could title your Page “Philadelphians For Nick Foles For Congress” or “Fairfield Moms For Gun Control”. Try to come up with something that is memorable and catchy, so people can easily find you. Facebook allows you to choose a custom URL for your Page on the platform (www.facebook.com/yourgroupnamehere), so choose something short and easy to link out, like facebook.com/PhillyForFoles. You should be sharing your URL a lot.
You’ll be asked to choose a category — make sure you answer this honestly. While it may seem savvy to set up as a “Political Organization” this will bring increased scrutiny from Facebook. Since you aren’t a registered political organization, you may get your Page re-categorized or flagged. I suggest using the “Cause or Community” category to avoid any confusion or the appearance that you are a company promoting a product or service.
Once you’ve set up your Page you will be prompted to fill out a bunch of information. Complete everything you can; all of those details will make your Page easier to discover. Keep in mind that your Page is public so random folks can run across it; if you don’t feel comfortable putting your personal email or phone number as a contact, set up a Google Voice or Gmail account that forwards to you.
Next Steps
Once you have your Page set up, I suggest creating a Facebook Group and starting to invite people to grow your network. A guide on Facebook Groups can be found here.
My Other Guides: Groups | Facebook
If you have thoughts, stories, or strategies for organizing on Facebook, email me. I want to hear how people are using the platform to engage.