VFR on Facebook and Twitter

A reader has kindly set up a Facebook account and a Twitter account for VFR.

He writes:

Only readers who also use Facebook or Twitter will find them useful, but I believe they could help increase your readership. At the least, I don’t see how they would hurt.

People who use Facebook will be able to “like” the VFR Facebook page. They will then start to see VFR entries—the post title and a link to the post itself—in their Facebook news feeds. With a click, they’ll be able to share these entries with their Facebook “friends.”

People who use Twitter will be able to “follow” ViewfmtheRight on Twitter. They will then start to see VFR entries—again, just the post title and a link, not the entry text—in their tweet streams. With a click, they’ll be able to “retweet” (i.e., share) the links to their followers.

- end of initial entry -

Gintas writes:

Re: VFR on Facebook and Twitter.

The world has gone completely mad.

LA replies:

Look, it’s been suggested as a way of increasing readership. There will not be any content on those Facebook and Twitter pages other than the titles of the posts. There will be no discussions on those pages, moderated or otherwise. It will not affect VFR itself in any way. So I don’t see how it can do any harm. We’ll see how it works, and if it turns out that there is anything about it that damages VFR or is a hassle (such as generating lots of hostile e-mail from liberals), I won’t continue with it.

When I asked readers back in June for their opinions about using Facebook, many strongly advocated it, while others were against it.

The reader who set up the Facebook and Twitter pages writes:

I am amused by Gintas’s reaction. He’s not alone, I’m sure. I think, though, that this exercise is a worthwhile experiment: How can we know whether these communication mechanisms will increase readership until you try them?

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 12, 2011 11:05 PM | Send