Social Media Explained - Facebook

Managing multiple social networking channels can be difficult but understanding the terms surrounding social media is a critical first step.

In our recent blogs at Volcanic, we have discussed the top tips and key pitfalls of social media. This blog outlines the key terms around Facebook, and check back in to see the next blog in our series which will explore the key terms used by Twitter.

About

This is where you add basic information on your business page to give the page visitor quick information about your company. Different sections are available on your page to fill in more specific information.

Activity log

This helps you manage your page’s timeline. It shows you a list of posts and comments by your page. This can only be accessed by admin on your page.

Boost post

These appear higher in the news feed so there's a higher probability that your audience will see them. There is a cost to boost a post that is dependent on the number of people you want it to reach.

Cover photo

The large picture at the top of your page, your cover photo is public so anyone who visits your page will see it. Choose carefully and keep it on brand.

Facebook Groups

Groups make it easy to connect with specific sets of people - you can set up your own group or request to join someone else's. They can either be open (anyone can see and join them) or closed (you have to request to join).

Impressions

The number of times a post from your page is displayed on a Facebook user’s feed, whether the post is clicked or not.

Like

Clicking the "like" button gives positive feedback, and liking something appears as an update on your timeline. Liking a page means you’re connecting with the page so you will start to see their updates in your news feed.

Followers

A way to hear from people that you are interested in even if you are not friends with them. The follow button allows you to see updates from that person in your news feed.

Friending

The people you connect and share with. You can send and receive friend requests to people you want to connect with and they will have access to view your profile.  

Message

These are private between the person you send them to and yourself. You can send messages to people you are not friends with but they will have to accept your message request. You can also send group messages. You are able to see when the recipient has read your message.

Milestone 

A special type of page post that lets you highlight key moments on your timeline.

Monthly active users

The number of people who have viewed your Facebook page or interacted with it in the previous 30 days.

News feed

A constantly updating list of stories on your homepage. This will include status updates, page updates, videos, photos and polls.

Notifications  

Updates about activity of Facebook, for example when someone likes, comments on or shares one of your posts.

Organic reach

The number of unique individuals who saw a particular post from your page on their news feed.

Page admin

You automatically become a page admin when you create a page for a business. This allows you to change how your page looks and post to the page. You can also make other people admin users to help run your page.

Page roles

There are five different roles on a page:

• Admin

• Editor

• Moderator

• Advertiser

• Analyst

People assigned any of these roles will access the page by logging in through their own personal account.

Paid reach

Number of unique individuals who saw a specific post from your page through a paid source like an ad or promoted post.

Pin to top

You can ‘pin’ a post to sit at the top of your page and the ‘pinned’ icon will sit next to the post. The post will stay at the top of your page for seven days and then it will return to the date originally posted. You can only ‘pin’ posts that you created and posted.

Posts to page

Any posts that are made to your page by someone that isn’t admin. These will show in the Posts to Page section which means your Timeline only shows posts that you created.

Post reach

Number of people who have seen your post.

Search

Located at the top of the page, this feature allows you to search for people, events, groups or pages.

Suggested edits

This lets people suggest information that might be missing from a page, including categories, locations, phone numbers and prices. If lots of people make the same suggestion, the information can then be added to your page. Admin users control the information that has been suggested and can add or remove it.

Tagging

This links a person, page or place to your post. For businesses it is good to tag locations, people and other businesses as it means your updates will appear in more locations.

Timeline

Where you can view your posts or posts you have been tagged in.

Trending

A list of topics and hashtags that have recently had high popularity on Facebook, the list is personalised based on a number of factors. As a business you should use hashtags to join in with trending topics.

Verified page

Pages may be authorised by Facebook to show that they are authentic.

Our next blog will look at the keywords used by Twitter. To learn more about social media marketing download our free guide.