How to Manage your Facebook Page: Lessons from the Carnivorous Island in The Life of Pi
In the movie “The Life of Pi”, the shipwrecked, hungry and tired duo of Pi and Richard Parker, the tiger, land on the shores of a mysterious little island. It is inhabited only by meerkats and seaweed, and lovely trees and freshwater ponds. Beautiful and peaceful. During the day, Pi and Richard Parker both are able to eat their fill. At night, Pi sleeps on the trees and Richard in the boat. The meerkats look happy. It is a utopia. Much has been written on the symbolism of this island. From specific allusions to Christianity and the Bible, to more general pondering on human faith. Here are some lessons on how to manage your Facebook page, inspired by this apparently utopian little island.
Don’t Leave the Boat
This island has been compared to the Garden of Eden. In fact, Pi later discovers a human tooth trapped inside a flower. Luckily, Pi did not let go off the boat, which Richard Parker returned to sleep at night. Just like Pi didn’t forget that his eventual goal was to return to land and not some island, you would do well to remember that Facebook is not your property. Your business is your website or blog. Do not get lost in the utopia of unlimited traffic and funny memes. Don’t miss out on seemingly small information about your business like contact details, addresses and promotional offers. They need the boat to row back to where you are.
Don’t let the happiness of the meerkats fool you
The meerkats ate plentiful during day. At night, the island ate them back. Do not get lost in the apparent utopia of Facebook. Like the bountiful island, it is an illusion. On your Facebook page, do not give irrelevant and excess information. Post one interesting piece instead of two half-filled ones. Engage with your fans, respond to their queries and feedback, tag them by name but do not get sucked into the social network. Facebook doesn’t pay you. Your business does. Drive the traffic to your website.
Do not sleep on the island
Remember that the island turns carnivorous at night. Make sure you have trees to climb to or a boat for your tiger. Facebook does give more organic reach to videos and pictures you upload on it. Use these only when impressions serve your purpose better than driving traffic. It may be alright to upload a video or two on Facebook natively but do remember that you want traffic to land up on your shores. Several media like Facebook Polls, are often overlooked. Use them to engage the smarter among your fans and the rest will follow. Don’t let them sleep on the island either.
Play with your tiger, Richard Parker
Richard Parker, the tiger is Pi’s companion. For the first time on the island, Pi makes real peace with him. He even makes Richard jump through hoops. You have to create effective communication with your fans. Listen to them, care for them. They are your companion on this journey. Long after you have left the island, you want them to be in your boat.
Conclusion: Manage your Facebook Page so You can Eventually Leave it
Today, you need your Facebook page just like Pi and Richard Parker needed to eat the seaweed at the island to get back their strength. You will get traffic and reach if you manage your Facebook page smartly. However, for God’s sake, do not send your hard-earned web traffic to Facebook, ever. Close all leakages. Do not use Facebook comments plugin. Do not show Facebook feed on your website.
Eventually, Pi realizes the island is carnivorous. The plants and the pond eat the animals. Whatever the island gives during day, it takes back at night. The sooner you realize this, the faster you will reach the real land shores.
A version of this post was first published on Vuukle Blog.
