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Feb
09

Snow Cones, Lady Gaga, and Onion Rings vs. the Prime Minister of Canada: An examination of those “other” Facebook fan pages

Posted by Elliot Darvick @ 1:10 pm

 Snow Cone

Inspired by Mashable’s Onion Ring More Popular Than Justin Bieber in Latest Facebook Meme

Let’s Discuss: Wildly popular “other” Facebook fan pages that are neither Artist, Band, Public Figure, Brand, Product, Organization, or Local Entity (the categories Facebook expects all fan pages to ascribe to), and the motivating forces behind their creation and popularity with those who fan them.

EMG 30-Second Rundown
Some examples of these “other” Facebook fan pages are: Ra Ra Ra Ah Ah Ah, Roma Ro Ma Ma, Gaga Ooh La La (915,233 fans and counting), Snow Cones (528,184 fans and counting), and Can this Onion Ring get more fans than Stephen Harper? (145,166 fans and counting, good thing fried food can’t be elected Canadian Prime Minister).

For context, Honda, which ended its recent Super Bowl commercial with a reference to Facebook.com/Honda, has 299,262 Facebook fans. And in case you’re wondering, “Ra Ra Ra Ah Ah Ah, Roma Ro Ma Ma, Gaga Ooh La La” is a lyric from the Lady Gaga song Bad Romance. That’s correct; a lyric from a Lady Gaga song has more fans on Facebook than the 5th largest manufacturer of cars in the world. I digress.

It’s important to note to that according to Facebook terms of service, “Pages are special profiles that may only be used to promote a business or other commercial, political, or charitable organization or endeavor (including non-profit organizations, political campaigns, bands, and celebrities).” Facebook suggests users who want to create other types of fan pages create a Facebook Group instead, but that hasn’t stopped the flood of these non-conformist Facebook fan pages.

The EMG Takeaway
Why do people create and join these fan pages?

  • To display adoration (“I love snow cones, I’ll make a Facebook fan page!”) or perhaps to find others who share a common passion; after all, the best social endeavors facilitate connections of value. On the Snow Cones fan page, the post “Do you have an awesome snow cone story? Let’s hear it!” elicited 691 comments, including my favorite, “While I was pregnant with my first son, I was very sick the entire 9 months. I even lost 40 lbs. because I couldn’t keep food down. The only thing I could eat was Snowcones! Snowcones saved me. My son, now 21, always tells this story to explain why he loves them too.” Unofficial fan pages become micro-niche communities around a common passion.
  • To make others laugh, or to be the author of an internet meme. The virality of the internet is greased with humor (ask the founders of Fail Blog, the creators of Rick Rolling, or the 5 million people who go to Break.com every month). According to the original admin of Ra Ra Ra Ah Ah Ah, Roma Ro Ma Ma, Gaga Ooh La La, “I started the page because it was a joke between me and my friends, we didn’t really like the song and thought the lyrics were really random… I didn’t really expect it to get too many fans but then it randomly got big, very fast.” While I personally wouldn’t laugh if I saw a friend become a fan of this particular page, I might if I noticed a friend fan, “Pretending to Text in Awkward Situations,” (3,149,129 fans and counting).
  • To make a statement or join a movement. In an environment where fans = popularity, demonstrating that an onion ring can garner more fans than the Prime Minister of Canada is quite a statement. Judging by fan comments on the page “Can this Onion Ring get more fans than Stephen Harper?” (“Onion rings are far more tasty than Conservative policy” and “Even this bad onion ring is better for my health than Stephen Harper”), the statement made by the page creator clearly resonates. In this case fanning a page is almost like slapping a bumper sticker on your car. Also consider that people gravitate towards movements with goals (let’s get more fans than…), and they join these fan pages for the same reason people “followed” Ashton Kutcher on Twitter to help him beat out CNN in a race to one million followers. We want to be a part of something greater than ourselves.

So what can you learn from these “other” fan pages?

As you build your own “official” fan pages, seek out fans that love what you do or the product you provide. When you do engage with your fans, the responses will be that much more passionate, genuine, and valuable to the connections you are creating. Study the most successful of these fan pages as a lesson in what goes viral. “Pretending to Text in Awkward Situations” sounds like an awesome campaign name Boost Mobile. Finally, give your fan base, audience, customers, etc. something to rally around. Yes, contests and sweepstakes are a great motivator, but uniting people in pursuit of a singular and common goal can be very powerful too.

Final Words: Facebook fan pages are great for brands…and a source of niche-communities, viral humor, and Canadian political movements we can all learn from.

3 Questions to Continue the Discussion

  1. Have you joined one of these “other” Facebook fan pages? And if so, why?
  2. Can you suggest a better categorization for these pages than “other”?
  3. Do these pages constitute spam and dilute the value of “official” Facebook fan pages?

Photo credit: Dhack55 / Flickr

Comments (9)
Social Media, Marketing, Strategy
  1. February 9th, 2010 at 01:10 32
    John

    In response to question three I would answer no. I think that most people clearly understand the difference between an official fan page for a brand, company or person as compared to one of these “other” pages and treat them accordingly. I think they can enhance a users profile by providing insight into a user’s personality, values, opinions etc…when you see what types of fan pages they have joined.

  2. February 9th, 2010 at 01:10 32
    Meredith

    Answers to:

    1. I don’t *think* that I’ve joined one of these groups. I emphasize “think” here because there are so many pages in our facebook faces that its hard to keep track of them all. I am sure that many users become fans of these pages and don’t give it a second thought. Unless, of course, the page continues to fill your feed with posts. A lot of these pages have one simple goal, as you mention–to get sheer volume. The goal isnt continued engagement, but rather a one off as a joke or simply a challenge to see if something can be done when boredom has won and someone has nothing else to do. Of course, there are some fan pages that have sentimental value (your snow cone example is touching), but I think a lot of these other pages are one hit wonders without longevity and are quickly vanquished to the land of forgotten fan pages.

    2. Coming up with a term other than “other” will only legitimize and encourage more pages like this. If Facebook’s MO for these pages is what you mention, then other should stay. Maybe they could amend it to “Other (if you fall into this category, perhaps you should more strongly consider creating a group)”

    3. I agree with John. I don’t think they dilute the official fan pages. Official fan pages are (or should be) created with the goal of creating a dialog with fans and providing valuable information. People who become fans of those pages will welcome a 20% off coupon in their stream or a heads up to a special event and be reminded why they are fans in the first place.

    Interesting post! Thanks Elliot!

  3. February 9th, 2010 at 01:10 32
    Elliot Darvick

    I think you make a very valid point that fan pages in a way enhance peoples’ profiles, much like pieces of flair enhance a Chotchkie’s restaurant uniform with a bit of the wearer’s personality (yeah Office Space reference). Okay, fan pages are cooler than flair, but same principle.

  4. February 9th, 2010 at 01:10 32
    BLau

    Great points, I think fanning some of these “others” pages is a combination of all 3 of these. They are sounding boards to express a view or feeling and let everyone know how you feel. This is a way you can really express yourself on Facebook without coming up with witty one liner status updates yourself. Myspace was founded on a principal of expressing your personality by customizing your profile with colors, layouts, animated gifs, images…Well the internet grew up and became more sophisticated and now Facebook’s expression comes from your status updates and groups and pages that you associate yourself with. As you pointed out, kind of like a bumper sticker, but you can easily change it if your views change and you don’t need Goof Off to get all the sticker residue off of your car. It also allows people to show that they do, or don’t have something in common with their friends because these all spread virally by seeing a friend join when it shows up on your news feed or their wall. Here is a question. Do you think you would have as many people fan an “others” page if it were an anonymous petition and it didn’t show up in your profile?

  5. February 9th, 2010 at 01:10 32
    Daver

    I just joined a group called “Can this pickle get more fans than Nickleback?”. This other category is a very valid way of expressing yourself and important issues (pickle vs. Nickleback). Seriously though, I agree with John and Blau. There is definite value for the community at large in having this “other” category for pages. They probably could come up with a few different types of modules (pages, groups, favorites, opinions) but I don’t really see a need. I think these rogue pages are very well understood by the facebook community.

  6. February 9th, 2010 at 01:10 32
    Elliot Darvick

    @Daver @Blau You’ve both made strong points about the value these pages represent to the Facebook community. When companies observe their user base interacting with their product in an unexpected way, they often incorporate these user behaviors into the actual product (like Twitter incorporating retweets). Facebook has taken a stance against these pages (for instance, when the Onion Ring / Justin Beiber page reached 2 million users, Facebook yanked it). What is Facebook’s motivation?

    @Meredith Glad you enjoyed. I agree with you that the content/engagement on these pages is limited, but in part that’s because Facebook often restricts administrative publishing rights after the page reaches a certain audience level. As to a name, I was looking for something better for us to call them, but I agree, Facebook won’t be legitimizing them any time soon with an official category. And while Facebook would rather see these pages as groups, what is it about the community’s perception of Groups that Fan Pages do a better job satisfying?

    Thanks everyone for the very thoughtful comments.

  7. February 9th, 2010 at 01:10 32
    Jess Liu

    I’m actually a fan of “Pretending-to-Text-in-Awkward-Situations” and I can’t seem to remember why, other than it was probably because I thought it was hilarious in the moment when I noticed it in my news feed that a few of my friends had became fans of this page, and I just thought “why not? it’s funny.”

    But Brian’s right, your viewpoints and expression of oneself changes with time, so after a while I may find myself “cleaning up” my Facebook profile and leaving fan pages and/or groups I may have joined before that were just for fun.

  8. February 9th, 2010 at 01:10 32
    ProllyROB

    I think company’s could make “gorilla” fan pages that support their products. For example maybe Tide detergent could make a fan page called “Fresh Clean Clothes Out of the Dryer”… i am a fan of that so warm so fresh. and when the user clicks to become a fan tips on washing or getting stains out with tide products could be pushed.

    Or Toys r us could do ” i don’t wanna grow up, Im a toys r us kid” fan page… people would remember that jingle which is a fan base already waiting to be tapped into… and most are probably parents now so they could get notified of sales to buy new toys for their kids.

    i guess my point is that in order to infiltrate the fan page arena which is used by Facebook users to express who they are or what they like… companies need to use a different strategy then just a simple brand fan page… goal being to help users use this fan page to express who they are while no intrusively promoting their brand. GET GORILLA!

  9. February 9th, 2010 at 01:10 32
    Elliot Darvick

    Rob, first, no surprise, there is a Fan Page for “I Love The Smell of Fresh Clean Clothes,” http://bit.ly/cOqTpE (echoing somewhere in my head is an annyoing voice saying, “There’s a Fan Page for that!” I think your tact would be an interesting one for companies, granted they take what you indicate would be a non-intrusive approach.

    For the record, when you have a chance, take a look at http://pagedata.insidefacebook.com. You’ll notice very quickly how many of the most popular fan pages are these generic, “other” pages.

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