Facebook Mentions is an application that is designed to let people know what users are saying about their articles and other posts. It is most commonly used by celebrities, journalists and other public figures who need to keep up to date about how people are interacting with their posts. Many marketers, however, could benefit from this application too, especially with a new update that is being rolled out.
Mentions will now allow users of the app see what those on Facebook are saying about their posts on the social network, even if they are not tagged or otherwise mentioned in the post. This is a great feature that will allow people to learn about how others are reacting in a near-real time way.
Vadim Lavrusik, the product manager, and Liz Heron, the head of journalism partnerships, said in a blog post, “Today, we’re adding the ability for journalists and content creators using Mentions to see what people are saying about their articles on Facebook, even if the person doesn’t mention the author by name. As a journalist, you can use this feature in your mentions feed to get a sense of how people are reacting to your articles and connect with them directly.”
The Mentions app is only available to ‘public figures’ who are verified on Facebook so this will not help all marketers or brands. It is increasingly popular, however, that ‘Internet Celebrities’ are transitioning into real public figures. This can even be the case for many marketers who are building their brand around their own name.
Anyone who has qualified to become a ‘verified’ Facebook user will certainly want to use this mentions app, and the new features being rolled out into it are very attractive. In fact, these new features may make it worth it for many ‘mid-level’ public figures to attempt to become ‘verified’ by Facebook so they can access this platform.
Part of the new features include an ‘author tag’ that public figures will need to put on their website. This will allow Facebook to associate all activity associated with a post to be tracked. This is a nice option to take the place of the Google Authorship tag, which has fallen out of use over the past couple years.
Anyone who has a verified Facebook account will want to make sure they add this new tag to their site to ensure they are getting all the great benefits of this new app.
