One small post before I call it a day.
The people at Facebook have done what they promised to do a while ago: when going to the Facebook page of my blog, I noticed that the traditional “x fans” has been replaced by “x people like this”.
I would have said “x people like this page”, to be that bit more precise. However, that’s a detail. I’m glad they finally got rid of the word fans.
Maybe many of you will find this stupid but to me, it matters. I never liked the word fans, and I explained why earlier in some posts. Being a fan of someone or something always brings to mind the image of a crowd cheering their favorite whatever (which reminds me that one day I’ll explain why I don’t like the word crowdsourcing either, I’m picky, I know, but words matter more than many can imagine).
The word fans expresses an inequality for me and that’s exactly what I don’t like (have to admit I don’t like celebrity stuff that much either, as my aunt used to say “we all have to go to the bathroom now and then”).
I wonder when and if Twitter will follow by replacing the word “followers” (as in “I lead,and you follow”) by something else. If I was working for Twitter, I would let the Twitter users decide. Imagine the buzz that would generate.
Too bad Facebook didn’t do that. It would have been the perfect way to involve their user community.
I guess many social media platforms could use some social media advice as well now and then.
It’s funny to see how businesses, that thrive on participation, peer-to-peer, community and conversations, forget to engage their users and communities by not asking what they think.
Anyway, I have no more fans.
Welcome people. And good night.
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