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Is getting a large group of friends on FaceBook Dead?

by jamiedolan
16 replies
I don't use Facebook for anything remotely spamie. I see Internet Marketing and other small business people who have close to 5,000 friends. They are not spam'ie but use it as an informational tool to stay in touch with people and to passively talk about what they are doing in their business. The large number of friends they have allows them to put up a new business fan page and easily get many "likes" right away. They can get instant high response feed back on business idea, etc. There are many reasons a large number of friends are a powerful tool, even without pitching anything to them directly.

So I viewed those people with a lot of (5,000) friends to be holding a fairly powerful marketing tool. Even if it is a little more passive or indirect of a tool.

Recently, Facebook has been showing warnings saying "only add this person if you know them personally" then they go on to warn you about if you don't know the person this will be considered spam and they may revoke your account, etc. I actually got this error when I was just adding old classmates that I did know personally.

So are the days of getting 5,000 friends dead, or are there ways to make it work without having Facebook label you a SPAMMER.

Jamie
#dead #facebook #friends #group #large
  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    It's not impossible, it's just harder than it was. Thank god I built up my 5,000 before they introduced this silly step. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea as it will stop people doing what a lot of marketers want to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author wfhblueprints
    What this has done is prevent people from adding hundreds of friends a day. It is still possible to build up a friends list......but it will take longer.

    What I think it will do is clear up alot of the spam that you can get in FB...

    However you still can setup a fan page and drive plenty of likes to it if you use the right content.

    Chris
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by wfhblueprints View Post

      What this has done is prevent people from adding hundreds of friends a day. It is still possible to build up a friends list......but it will take longer.
      It has also made it much easier for people to tag you as a spammer if they are receiving a message from someone they do not know. And if you are flagged a certain number of times you will get the boot.

      You need to be very careful who you add nowadays...
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      • Profile picture of the author jamiedolan
        Originally Posted by WillR View Post

        And if you are flagged a certain number of times you will get the boot.

        You need to be very careful who you add nowadays...
        So are these people with 5K friends putting themselves at risk if a few of their "friends" get tired of listening to them?

        Sounds like it might be fairly risky now to have 5K friends even if you could get them.
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        Jamie Dolan
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        • Profile picture of the author wfhblueprints
          Originally Posted by jamiedolan View Post

          So are these people with 5K friends putting themselves at risk if a few of their "friends" get tired of listening to them?

          Sounds like it might be fairly risky now to have 5K friends even if you could get them.
          This may be the case if people complain when they have been added but I don't think it is a problem once they are established friends......especially since friends can "turn you off" from appearing on newsfeeds etc

          But thats just my opinion..
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        • Profile picture of the author WillR
          Originally Posted by jamiedolan View Post

          So are these people with 5K friends putting themselves at risk if a few of their "friends" get tired of listening to them?

          Sounds like it might be fairly risky now to have 5K friends even if you could get them.
          No, if someone accepts your friend request then you won't get penalized unless people are continually marking links you are sharing as spam - which would probably mean you are spamming anyway so deserve to be banned. It's the same deal with fan pages as well.

          I have just under 5,000 friends on my facebook account and fan pages with over 20,000 real targeted fans. I post to these a few times each week and I've never had a problem because the information I post is useful and wanted.
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          • Profile picture of the author jamiedolan
            Originally Posted by b0n4r View Post

            It is a lot harder, but it is still possible to market with facebook. Instead of having a large number of friends, like 5000, each on 10 accounts for a total of 50k, you will need to have 50 accounts with 1000 each.
            That does fall into what I personally would consider SPAM'ing.

            I'm really not looking to abuse or game the system. I've seem some successful people on Facebook that are not abusing the system. It appeared to me that Facebook made that more difficult to accomplish than it used to be due to the new rules they are imposing.


            Originally Posted by Amy Garrison View Post

            I used to get a lot of spam on FB, I hate it when I would see 50 friend requests and I didn't know any of them, worst yet once I add them all I would get was spam links to clickbank
            I've seen stuff like this, where I get SPAM'ed with links from someone new. That's just poor behavior on FB.

            I see FB is a social network, not a place to hammer out links. I feel like (and know there are people that use it this way) you should be able to use it in a social capacity to communicate with a large community of "friends" without being a spammer.

            Originally Posted by WillR View Post

            No, if someone accepts your friend request then you won't get penalized unless people are continually marking links you are sharing as spam - which would probably mean you are spamming anyway so deserve to be banned. It's the same deal with fan pages as well.

            I have just under 5,000 friends on my facebook account and fan pages with over 20,000 real targeted fans. I post to these a few times each week and I've never had a problem because the information I post is useful and wanted.
            Glad to see your response. Thanks! Sounds like your exactly the type of person I am referring to out GB. Someone that is completely legitimate, non-spam and has a large number of friends they interact with.

            Sounds like you have had a great deal of success with marketing on FB. Are you doing IM on Facebook or other markets?

            Jamie
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    • Profile picture of the author jamiedolan
      Originally Posted by wfhblueprints View Post

      However you still can setup a fan page and drive plenty of likes to it if you use the right content.
      Chris
      How do people find the fan page if you don't have a large friend base to promote it to?

      What type of content is the "right content"? i.e. Informational, contests, ???

      Jamie
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      • Profile picture of the author wfhblueprints
        Originally Posted by jamiedolan View Post

        How do people find the fan page if you don't have a large friend base to promote it to?

        What type of content is the "right content"? i.e. Informational, contests, ???

        Jamie
        Right Content- Contests, Videos, Articles.....anything that can trigger a conversation and is of value.

        Everytime someone comments on a section of your fanpage it will show up on their newsfeed.....and anybody elses newsfeed that had commented previously......this gives your fanpage added exposure and adds to the viral growth of the page.

        What is important is that the content is relevant to the page and of value to the user.

        If you are just starting out in a niche and have no friends to add onto the page......you can use Facebook advertising for pretty much cents.....
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        • Profile picture of the author jamiedolan
          Originally Posted by wfhblueprints View Post

          .this gives your fanpage added exposure and adds to the viral growth of the page.
          What is important is that the content is relevant to the page and of value to the user.
          Now I just have to figure out what to sell that will make some money. I built a niche forum last year, (Willys Jeep Forum 4wd - Online Community for Every Kind of Jeep)but I think it was too small of a niche. Also did a article directory, but gave up on it, it didn't get indexed well even with backlinks.

          I'm thinking about setting up a forum on a more popular topic, such as dogs. (looking to make money from ads & possibly building a mailing list to market to) Do you think most people are willing to leave Facebook to visit a forum, or are people looking for more of that interaction to take place right on Facebook?

          Am I wasting too much of my time trying to build a forum and make money from the ads on the forum? Should I be shooting for something more direct, selling an e-book for example?

          Jamie
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  • Profile picture of the author tamalanwar
    Hi Jamie, when I first joined facebook I started to add a lot of random people on my profile and closed to about 500. Then I got tired and remove the ones who I don't know or talk for privacy.

    I feel that facebook is a personal space for friends and over-marketing something will make you annoying to others.

    Instead of taking visitors to my site, I took my site on facebook; created a page and listed my services.

    I personally don't like adding people who have unreal number of friends (1000-5000)

    That was just my 2cents; have your say please.
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    • Profile picture of the author Devid Farah
      2,500 – that seems the ban mark these days, get more than that and you will just log, or rather not log on to your account one day.

      No warning, no email, no response to your email to facebook.

      They make getting back a lost Google adsense account seem easy in comparison.

      Whilst facebook has it’s place in society many users fail to realize that you can set up the options in relation to how often they email you.

      If you are on facebook and wake up every morning with 200 emails on “join this group”, “join this game” etc, then login to your settings and filter out the emails that you want to receive or don’t.
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      • Profile picture of the author alwaysready
        oww they are really focusing on security !! what is that !!? personally , despite the difficulty of adding all that number , i do think it is possible since you can use your facebook acount or the fan page link in all articles and forums you use so people will add you , and this way will make you safe Good luck with it any way
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  • Profile picture of the author b0n4r
    It is a lot harder, but it is still possible to market with facebook. Instead of having a large number of friends, like 5000, each on 10 accounts for a total of 50k, you will need to have 50 accounts with 1000 each.
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  • Profile picture of the author JHC81
    I used to get a lot of spam on FB, I hate it when I would see 50 friend requests and I didn't know any of them, worst yet once I add them all I would get was spam links to clickbank
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Jordan
    I like the new rules FB are imposing esp after the privacy issue they had last year. This will definitely clear up a lot of spam and hopefully a better security for all.
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