Five Tips for Using Facebook to Build Community Outside of Senior Housing's Walls
Facebook can be a great tool for building community outside of senior housing's walls. Ecumen's Julie O'Neil (pictured above behind and in front of the "Julie Cam") is a community builder. No, she doesn't develop senior housing, but in her role leading a number of enriching social, exercise and intellectual wellness programs at Ecumen Scenic Shores, she also turns to Facebook to build community. You can become a friend of Ecumen Scenic Shores here. Here's insight from Julie on using Facebook to build community and five tips for success:
Our Facebook page has allowed us to stay so closely connected with our community of residents, family, friends, volunteers, and others who are a part of life at Ecumen Scenic Shores Assisted Living.
The most popular aspects for our users are:
- getting up to date information on acitivities and events;
- seeing photos of these activities and events, sometime just moments after it happens;
- being able to fulfill needs by reading postings about requests for very specific donations (like card making materials or baked goods for a fundraiser);
- being able to communicate with the activity director about events,
-RSVP'ing attendance, or to say hello to a loved one for them. This is especially gratifying for family and friends who live in far away places!
The most popular aspects for Ecumen Scenic Shores are:
-having our 100+ "friends" in such close contact;
-using the page as an outreach tool for prospects, they can really follow our daily life here when making a decision about a new home;
- marketing our fundraisers, the weekly and daily reminders make for a great turnout, especially when we post a photo;
-keeping in touch with friends to let them know of events, so they are well attended; and thanking volunteers and others, it's good PR to provide recognition and a great way to show how much we appreciate the good works that provide such a well rounded activity program.
Top 5 tips for maintaining a Facebook page:
1. Invite "friends" via newsletters, word of mouth, and whenever you have a residents family in;
2. Keep the info fresh, try to update daily;
3. Post photos with in 24 hours of an event (I have people tagging them and commenting as I am posting them!);
4. Provide posts about a variety of things to keep everyone engaged;
5. Make it fun and interactive if you can (I occasionally throw in a trivia question about a particular activity that is coming up to get people thinking about us).
I hope you have as much fun and success with your Facebook page as we have!
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