Introducing Facebook Stories – The Social Site You’ve Never Seen
Introducing Facebook Stories – The Social Site You’ve Never Seen
Introducing Facebook Stories – The Social Site You’ve Never Seen!
Great Article By: Maximize Social Media LLC
Have you used Facebook Stories yet? Do you intend to integrate it into your social media marketing strategy? If you are sitting there scratching your head wondering what on earth Facebook Stories can even be found…well, you aren’t alone. it’s literally only days old and unlike all prior product release updates, this one is not found on the main site! Today we are going to provide a basic overview of Facebook Stories including the pro’s and con’s associated with expanding to yet another Facebook offering, who will benefit from Facebook stories and why. But first a word of warning – Facebook Stories is VERY different than any other social media strategy used to date so take time to investigate this offering carefully. It’s a wonderful time to get in on the ground floor of something unique and different but, as a leading social media management firm, we will be the first to admit, it’s not for everyone.
How New is Facebook Stories?
Oh, so very new! In fact, as of the date of this writing, there are less than 10k members. It was literally launched just 24 hours ago. Needless to say, this information isn’t cutting edge…it’s bleeding edge new!
What is Facebook Stories?
According to Facebook, Stories is…” a new site dedicated to sharing the extraordinary, quirky and thought-provoking stories and ideas from the more than 950 million people around the world who make up Facebook’s community”. Well, that certainly sounds like it could be fun but it really doesn’t tell us much about the intended purpose which is strange given the need for Facebook to appeal to investors and start to show a serious business side. To date, it’s not at all clear that Facebook Stories accomplishes any real business related purpose other than satisfying a bit of basic curiosity. But don’t write it off just yet. As a social media management firm, we admittedly are intrigued by the entire idea..not so much for the big bang for business but for the incredibly, creative ideas generated on the site as well as keen insight into what is in the future works for the world’s largest social media site. Keep reading to see what we mean…
Where to Find Facebook Stories
As we have already mentioned, Facebook Stories cannot be found on the main social media site; it’s simply not there. To take an early glimpse of Stories visit http://www.facebookstories.com/.
How to Use Facebook Stories
Facebook Stories is entirely unlike anything else you have seen on Facebook…or any other social media site. Essentially, it is a place where users can submit a story about how they used Facebook in a newsworthy way. Current examples include a man who lost his memory due to meningitis, a movement to save a slice of downtown, archives from The New Yorker and other equally disparate memories and stories. Users are invited to submit a story for consideration at which point it will be reviewed for publication. Among those stories selected for publication, Facebook then produces an infographic based upon a pre-selected theme; for example, this months’ theme is “Sharing Life’s Biggest Moments” and centers around the idea of memory. Virtual memory, lost memory, memory gained and other interesting concepts surrounding memory.
What It’s NOT
By now it should be abundantly clear that Facebook Stories is not just another social media site. It doesn’t publish everything submitted and indeed, appears that it will be fairly selective in the chosen criteria. It’s not an “on demand” social media marketing solution. It’s not even that apparent how it will become profitable or IF it will become profitable. In fact, Stories is decidedly stodgy when compared to the numerous cool DIY and On Demand social media offerings that are increasingly catering to the advertising and business needs of social media marketing firms. On the other hand, Facebook Stories gets some things right and provides unique insight into the future of social media.
What it IS
Facebook Stories is moving in a direction completely apart from all other social media sites; it’s focusing on real depth rather than shallow or superficial insight. This is true content presented in an entirely new way – a way that standard search engines like Google or Bing simply can’t replicate given the social focus. Part client testimonial, part big bragging rights for the company, Facebook Stories is fascinating even given the extremely limited size. The information is engaging yet informative. The style is a nice blend of user-centric offerings combined with Facebook distribution access. To date, Facebook is keeping a very low profile on this one leading many to speculate the site is still not finished. Keep an eye out in coming months for more possible applications to be integrated into the site; we suspect it will continue to provide a glimpse into the future of social media.
Who & When To Use
Participating in Facebook Stories is not simply and will be of limited benefit to most business owners…at this time! Unless you have a very interesting (downright fascinating) example of how Facebook impacted your life or business, the time required to submit a story for consideration is unlikely to yield big benefits. With fewer than 10k users at the present time, limited circulation is of obvious importance even if your story was accepted. On the other hand, Facebook Stories promises to yield fascinating insight into the future of social media as well as the current trends and usage patterns among existing clients. New, informative and fascinating case studies may also prove fruitful to those (such as ourselves) that like to stay up to date with the latest and greatest information.
