Facebook group vs FC discussions?
We are considering moving our existing community from the FB group to FC. Has anyone done this? What was the result?
I'm a little worried about it, because now it goes up on Facebook anyway, but it would go up less on my page, right?
Won't they be less active?
That said, I can see the advantages. For example, if they are no longer paying, their access is automatically terminated, whereas on Facebook you have to remove them manually.
If you have a relevant Facebook group, I would handle it very carefully and not move it completely.
I would create a higher-priced offering and test it first, bringing a small target group of my members to Fluent.
We did it for a client. Who had 2 paid membership group who both had around 100/150 members on there facebook groups. The client did complain that there is less engagement/posts from members on FC. Also she wants to upload short videos because she travels a lot but this is currently not possible with FC.
Sam Jansen Thanks! Then I don't really understand the point of using FC. Isn't the community function the main point? But if people don't want to switch, then does it make sense when you're building a new community from scratch?
Attila Szabó For us it is about differant aspects than community only. Inegrating zoom meetings with notification to differant groups (done wirh FluentCRM), displaying an archive of all the recent meeting to watch back. Automatic subscription management when people failed to pay revoke them from the community and sent an email.
Attila Szabó The point is that you are in control. You can’t be de-platformed. You are in control of the data.
We have a Facebook group of about 18,000 members. We first moved to circle and brought over two or 3000 members pretty easily. Then we moved to fluent and we migrated all those two or 3000 over.
It’s basically a constant struggle trying to get people over from Facebook. There are the “anything is better than Facebook” people and then there are the people who will never leave Facebook because it’s “convenient.”
The big Facebook group is still in existence, but we are determined to eventually move off there and bring anybody who wants to join.
Bradley Charbonneau Thanks for this info! We have about 2,500 in our FB group and about 500 in Fluent Community. I'm doing my best to encourage people to move over but it is a real struggle. People complain so much about Facebook so I thought it would be an easy transition!
Bradley Charbonneau Thanks! Then I don't really understand the point of using FC. Isn't the community function the main point? But if people don't want to switch, then does it make sense when you're building a new community from scratch?
Patrick Anderson Exactly! They complain about FB until ... it's time to put their money where their mouth is and leave! ;-)
Attila Szabó As a board (for the organization), we're just so DONE with FB and all of their regulations and limits and account blocking and ... etc. etc. etc.
So we know it's going to be a long, slow, uphill battle, but We Will Prevail. ;-)
It's almost as much on principle that we're leaving as it is practicality.
But speaking of being practical, we have a bazillion posts on FB and it's nearly impossible to find anything so people ask the same questions again and again.
In Fluent Community, we can organize info into courses (even paid, yay!) as well as subgroups (spaces), we can email members, we can just do lots of stuff we can't do on FB.
If you don't mind to lose engagement then switch to FC
Admin j Yep, we knew we'd have that but we are in it for The Long Game.
There's always the threat hanging over our heads, "FB could shut down our group any moment they feel like it."
So it's also about control, connection, and future.
I created and managed a Facebook group with over 50,000 members before handing it over.
I believe it's important not to make direct comparisons and to understand that people go on Facebook to connect with friends and family, read news, share content, and more. Groups are an extension of that ecosystem and reduce friction — no need for multiple websites, URLs, accounts, or passwords. Deleting a Facebook group to move it to another platform would be a serious mistake.
D@vid I agree and something that is not mentioned to encourage movement if that is your goal is remove old posts and let your users know that the group history is being maintained on FC. You can also turn off comments or limit them.