<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"This post is co-authored by Dan Zarrella and Alison Driscoll. Alison is an interactive copywriter and social media consultant who specializes in FacebookFacebook reviews marketing. She authors a blog at alisondriscoll.com.\nWhen compared to other social media sites, Facebook has a much larger potential reach for \"memes\" (ideas that people can't help sharing with their friends) but is quite restrictive on the ways in which these memes can spread. To identify the characteristics necessary for a meme to thrive on Facebook, we must look at what the restrictions demand from them.\nThis post is part of Mashable\u2019s Facebook Week. To discuss everything Facebook, join our authors and community at Mashable's Facebook Page.\nFacebook pages\nThe best practices method, and the easiest to manage, is a Facebook page with updates to fans; however, this requires populating the page and having relevant content that warrants a page. Users have a greater level of commitment to pages they become a fan of because pages house a greater amount of content and features. Additionally, pages are displayed on profiles more prominently than groups or events, meaning that users must feel more aligned with the meme.\nPages are typically \"bigger\" topic-wise, so they aren't really suitable for spreading a single meme; however, a page could be used as a launching point and seeding mechanism for a number of memes.\nNotes, groups, &amp; events\nThe quick and dirty way to spread things faster is using notes, groups or events. However, a lot of people use these methods for things like lost phone/numbers, charity fundraisers and silly surveys. Events and groups are the \"most spreadable\" because they make it easy for other people to pass stuff on and invite people from outside the original creator's network. However, this also means that users are exposed to more of these on a daily basis. Because they have become so common, the scarce resource here is attention.\n\n\n\n\nMany of these other methods are helpful for getting information out there, but tend to die after the first level; whoever I send it to will see it, but chances are it won't go past that.\nGroups and events also have built in functionality to help send information to friends, much like a \"Tweet This\" or \"Send to a Friend\" button. A user may see my status update and repost the link from it, but it is much easier for him or her to invite more friends to the group or event I already set up. Similarly, notes and links are fairly easy to post; there is a \"Share\" bookmarklet for links that allows you to click, comment and post easily. Or, you can send a message to a friend with the link.\nCreate a meme that stands out\nIn order to stand out and be taken seriously, as well as look legitimate and break through the clutter, each of these must be done well and completely, i.e. whoever sets them up must take the time to enter all information and find or create an eye-catching and appropriate photo. Use correct punctuation and capitalization, and include a brief summary or intro in the event or group invite, as well as a link to your actual content; that way, if they don't accept the invite, they can still check out the real content you want them to view.\nBelow is a list of the ways to contact people on Facebook and \"make content spread,\" as well as some guidelines for how they work and tips for working with Facebook's existing functionality for maximum effect.\nCreate/invite to an event- Keep public- Make searchable- Allow others to invite- Allow invitees to post videos, links and photos- Keep wall open to allow discussion; participate yourself- Fill out all fields- Upload image- Use SEO principles to come up with name; think keywords and popular searches for the topic\nCreate/invite to a group- Make global- Keep it open (public) which makes it searchable- Allow others to invite- Allow invitees to post videos, links and photos- Keep wall open to allow discussion; participate yourself- Fill out all fields- Upload image- Use SEO principles to come up with name; think keywords and popular searches for the topic\nPost a note- Tag friends in it so they will be notified of the new note; it will also post to their profile for other friends to see- Publish to profile and mini feed- Set up automated notes to pull from a blog or other RSS feed- Format with FMBL- Add an image\nPost link- Post a link to any site, on or off Facebook- Publish to profile and mini feed- Gain subscribers to your posted links; this alerts them to all posted content- Time posting to appear in feed at optimum viewing window, i.e. when most people are active online- Send as a message as well, with same functionality/formatting: link, Facebook description, small image and optional personal comment\nTag photo- Tag with any friend to alert them that you have posted new photos and they're in them- Post \"gotcha\" photos the user is not actually in; this creates intrigue and almost guarantees viewing- Keep photo album settings open; this ensures that their friends who you don't know can see as well\n\n\n\n\nTag video- Tag with any friend to alert them that you have posted new video and they're in it- Post \"gotcha\" videos the user is not actually in; this creates intrigue and almost guarantees viewing- Keep settings open; this ensures that their friends who you don't know can see as well\nFriend request with personal message- Search for relevant people- Send a friend request- Include a personal message (must be brief) with content/link you wish to spread and why it's relevant to them- Reach out to people you don't know; even if they don't accept, they can view link in message\nSend a message- Segment friends into groups of 20; this is the maximum Facebook will allow one message to be sent to- Send bulk message(s) with link to content; include crucial information\nSuggest a page- Similar to suggest-a-friend functionality- Users can spread a page amongst their previously existing social networks- Cannot include additional information, so the page must speak for itself\nSend page updates- Create a page update (cross between a note and personal message) and send to all fans- Friends view like a note, and are notified like a message or email- Customize content by formatting and including links; this is the only method of interaction where this is allowed\nPost on Wall- Write on friends' walls with links to content you wish to share- Other users can view, depending on wall settings- Pulls into both users' feeds for mutual friends to see\nUpdate Status- Update your own status with links, from Twitter or by hand- Posts to your wall; friends can view here, as well as in feed or \"recently updated friends\"\nDan Zarrella is a social media and viral marketing scientist. You can read his blog and follow him on TwitterTwitter reviews.Alison Driscoll is an interactive copywriter and social media consultant who specializes in Facebook marketing. You can read her blog and follow her on Twitter.\nMore Facebook resources from Mashable:\n- 5 Elements of a Successful Facebook Fan Page- 5 Tips for Optimizing Your Brand's Facebook Presence- New Facebook Pages: A Guide for Social Media Marketers- HOW TO: Survive the New, New Facebook- 30+ Apps for Doing Business on Facebook\nFacebook meme image courtesy of smartbykrae.com"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2009/04/03/facebook-meme/>