Yes, I watch too much Star Wars, but I couldn’t resist the title. Read the article below and you’ll see why. In it, the author talks about his disappointment after finding out that author John Grisham was a phantom Facebooker. What’s a phantom Facebooker you say? It’s a person like John who is perhaps too busy or too behind the social media revolution that they themselves don’t keep a blog/tweet/facebook/etc, but have someone (or in this case, he didn’t even know he had a Facebook page) do it for them.
Now, this seems okay to me if you’re only showing photos. But if you have someone responding on your behalf to fans/clients/friends, that’s a bit strange. And fake. I think the key to a successful blog, or any other social media, is to be AUTHENTIC. Otherwise, if found out, you risk losing all credibility.
If you do run a phantom Facebook page for someone, at least tell the person! Don’t throw them to the wolves on national TV!
As a major supporter of social media networks, this really upsets me. I understand celebrities, authors, and other significant people are very busy but the ROI on the small amount of time it takes to use these sites is just so great! I feel that by misleading their fans and neglecting to recognize that these platforms can serve as an incredibly powerful tool to connect with supporters and be more “human”- they don’t even belong on these networks.