Creating and managing a Facebook fanpage is both exciting and challenging but if you have the patience and passion then soon enough it will become a very active and engaging online community of like minds and interests and this is how Being Puerto Rican became successful. First, I like to thank Lance Rios, creator of Being Latino, for giving me the opportunity to manage Being Puerto Rican. He noticed the kinds of content that I was sharing within the page and so he offered me the opportunity to manage it for him and of course I humbly accepted.

At first, the fanpage stalled at 2,709 and not much activity going on in there. I began with a strategy on how I should begin posting content pertaining to Puerto Rico. My passion is Puerto Rico since I was born there and my family are from there so I do have knowledge of the island such as it’s culture, history, music and entertainment. I researched the kinds of information I like to post but not just text, I want this page filled with rich visuals and media elements such as video, pictures and music pertaining to Puerto Rico as well as links to other sites and blogs relating to it.

In order to begin the engagement, I added selected media elements and asked questions within the community about the particular topic of the picture like who is your favorite Puerto Rican musician. I try not to post one after the other, I want the members to have time to study the information so I post once every 1 or 2 hours. Soon, members began to answer the questions while at the same time chat with each other.

I found this also to be a great socio-cultural research tool because I’m seeing firsthand how the community is growing and engaging with one another. What’s great about Facebook is that it allows me to study the amount of interactivity that is going on within the group through comments, impressions and feedback. I then study all of these analytics to re-strategize and post the kinds of content that the members want. For example, I found that I receive the most comments and “likes” on pictures that depict Puerto Rican culinary delicacies. From reading the comments, I discovered that the basis of the large feedback on this particular subject is the members’ sense of nostalgia when they see the pictures of Puerto Rican food. It reminds them of their time in Puerto Rico when they were younger as well as the family and friends that they knew and love. I know that this was something that we all had in common because I to remember the times that I was in Puerto Rico and my grandmother would make me home cooked Puerto Rican meals. Content that offers an immersive experience can be very valuable.

As I mentioned before, I started managing Being Puerto Rican back in September at about 2,709 members, now membership has exploded to over 17,000! Everyday I keep a very flexible posting schedule and at times members post their own content. However, the best outcome from this community development are the positive compliments I receive from community members about the fanpage.

This will not only work for personal fanpages but also if you want to create a business fanpage for your company, brand, or service becuase the concepts are pretty much the same thing:

• Before creating a fanpage, develop a strategy on how you want it to be engaged by your targeted group.
• Do the research for the kinds of relevant content that you want to post on the fanpage.
• Don’t just stick to text, supply media elements to attract and maintain members such as videos, audio, pictures and links to other related sources.
• As a creator and manager of your fanpage don’t just sit back and be a spectator, get involved with your community by starting conversations with members, answering questions that they might have, offering advice, or provide interactive subject matter such as quizzes, games or polls.
• Create a schedule flexible enough for you to post enough content for your members to study but keep the number posting spaced apart, 1 to 3 hours works best.
• You will not receive a quick results after just a week, this will take time so patience is key. In no time, the results will show itself.
• Very important! Have the passion and commitment to be continuously be involved with your fanpage or it will fail.

I hope this helps, now go start your community!