Facebook is pretty picky about what you can and cannot do on their platform, but the available tools and options are beginning to shift as they test what works for people and orgs, and what doesn't. It's important for nonprofits to stay on top of the newest trends, and to utilize new tools effectively.
Embeds
A new option for nonprofits' status updates, though, is the ability to embed your Facebook statuses in a blog post or on a website. Embedded Posts are a simple way to place public posts - by a Page or an individual on Facebook - into the content of your web site or web page. The posts must be public, or it won't work.
Once you've accessed the embed code, you can places the HTML on your blog or website. The embedded post will show any media attached to it, as well as the number of likes, shares, and comments that the post has. Embedding posts will allow the constituents who are visiting your website to see the same engaging information that's shown on your Facebook page. Your community will be able to follow or like content or Pages directly from the embed on the website. One downside? The size of the embedded post is fixed to the same dimensions as it's shown on Facebook.
Typos
One criticism of Facebook has been that you can't edit your statuses once they're published. This has been especially problematic when you post a big news update, and your followers are really excited and begin to like and share the update, only for you to realize that there's a typo. In the past, your only option has been to either ignore the typo and move on, or to delete the status and write a new one. The problem with deletion is that it deletes all of the engagement that the post received initially. What's exciting is that Facebook has recently allowed you to edit your statuses after they've been published. The downside? This is only for individuals, and not for organizations, or Pages. Pages can still edit text on photos that they've uploaded, but not status updates.
We used Frogloop guest blogger Justyn Hintze's Facebook page as an example for how to edit a status on a personal page.
You publish a Facebook status.
Then you notice your huge typo, and you click the down arrow in the top right-hand corner, and scroll down to where it says, "Edit..." You can then edit your status, and re-publish the new version.
The newest version will show that you edited the post right next to the time stamp. Anyone can click the word "Edited" to see the history of the text. So, unless you actually delete your status, no prior edits can be permanently deleted or hidden.
This is what the Edit History looks like when anyone clicks on it.
We'd love to hear what Facebook features you have found useful for your nonprofit.
COMMENTS