This post was mentioned on Twitter by socialmapping: Why your Facebook fans are phonies http://ff.im/-fg4i5…

One more thought. The line in the post:

So what happens to these pages after the first state reaches 1 million fans is a good question. Will Facebook roll them into the states’ official pages? Will states try to obtain them and turn them into tourist or government-focused pages?

Was from the other article. I am not asking that question, rather answering it.

- Troy

Completely agree and acknowledged in the post, there are different types of fan pages and, for that matter, several different types of Facebook users.

However, I can easily imagine a CEO / President / Director of a state DMO saying to their interactive manager…’Why can’t we get this many fans on Facebook?’

Well, you can. However those users will simply be clicking by and not very engaged in your brand.

The Vin Diesel example, which I must say it such an odd reference to have on a post, is a good one. But even if Mr. Diesel has 1 million fans, there is some percentage of those fans that are simply there to ‘collect’ celebrity friends and have no interest in seeing The Pacifier 2.

Sum it all up, not all fans are created equal.

Great comments. Thanks.

- Troy

The pages you are talking about aren’t about anything more than trying to reach a big number. There is no organization or person behind these state sites. There is no content or information which is being pushed out. There have been many fan pages like this which have sprung up quickly in an act of protest or support for something. These type of sites are just about joining and forgetting.

These type of pages are totally different than real fan pages like what you see for people/brands that people actually like and follow. Check out the Vin Diesel fan page. Every time he says something he gets tens of thousands of people giving feedback. Its a totally different type of fan page.