Facebook: Village News readers can interact, provide their own community news tips

With the Village News being Fallbrook’s community newspaper, it makes sense that its readers be given the opportunity to interact and provide interesting news and tips for others, because that’s what community is all about.

If you don’t have a Facebook page by this point, you might want to consider setting one up. With the new “The Social Network” movie featuring the creation and rise of Facebook as the top social media network in the world, Facebook is gaining more and more users by the day.

Facebook users easily become addicted in using the website, which is a great way to stay in touch with family, friends and other community members. Some spend hours a day on the site, chatting with long lost friends, spying on their former lovers, posting photos and merely seeing what everyone is up to.

It’s not merely a few who use the site avidly. In July 2010, Facebook boasted over 500 million active users, which is about one person for every 14 in the world, according to Facebook’s statistics.

With that many users online, cyber communicating with their friends, ex-partners, co-workers and former college roommates, it’s no surprise that businesses across the world have developed fan pages and begun offering their fare to their friends and fans.

This is especially useful for new artists, smaller businesses and individuals who are looking to share news with multiple people, fast. Pictures, links and endless stands of data are all waiting to be seen, whenever they are needed.

This doesn’t mean that businesses are buying up advertisements and banners on the site; Facebook users are smart enough to know the difference between real posts and advertising. In actuality, Facebook has a lower click-through rate for ads than most major websites, according to Businessweek. So for the first time, companies and businesses are simply being honest and up front with what they have to offer their fans and clients.

Recently, the Village News and the Temecula Valley News started their own fan pages on Facebook, allowing for the news sites to share news with their friends directly on their newsfeed. The Village News is always seeking input from their readers for stories, tips and suggestions that will make the paper better.

For small town businesses such as the ones in Fallbrook, the feedback received can be crucial. Facebook has transformed the community of Fallbrook into an untapped information source. Favorite shops can be followed, and specials and discounts are shared and given to fans that avidly follow the businesses.

Consumers are also spending more and more time shopping online, and fans of certain sites are now able to recommend products and websites to each other with the simple click of a button. Once the fan page is set up, invites are sent to people who have had prior communication with the company.

These can be acquaintances or past customers – but the best thing is that these people can then send out invites to people they know. This has a massive viral effect that can bring your business to the attention of many people in a short amount of time.

For the Village News, having a fan page isn’t about making money, or trying to sell a subscription to our paper. It’s a way to socially interact with avid readers, and find out exactly what it is that keeps Fallbrook’s community thriving.

To follow the Village News on Facebook, go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fallbrook-CA/The-Fallbrook-Village-News/249808710702?ref=ts.

To comment on this story online, visit http://www.thevillagenews.com.