2011 June

Possibilities and Pitfalls of Migrating Your Facebook Profile to a Page

June 20, 2011 By

A little over a month ago, I decided to migrate my Facebook Profile to a Facebook Page. I have sat with this decision for a while now, so thought I would offer some insights for those who might be thinking about doing the same.

And with these first sentences, 75% of readers fall asleep

Social media geeks unite! Woot!

If you are still with me, this whole migration process takes your profile and converts it into a page changing all of your “friends” on your profile into “likes” on a page; essentially unfriending them all and turning them into “fans.” So before I get started, let me say with an unwavering confidence, DO NOT MIGRATE unless you really really really think you need to. And by “need to” I mean you fit one of the following three reasons a profile should be migrated to a page:

You are at the 5,000 friend limit or see that you will reach that number in the future;
You are a public figure so you interact with a great number of people who you really do not know nor do you want to have part of your personal facebook life;
You are a business/organization that first started a profile before pages were all the rage;

Other than those reasons, I say resist the temptation and remain a profile. The downsides of starting a new page identity greatly outnumbers the benefits of having an established profile. Basically, I just don’t think it is worth the hassle. Remember the reason that Facebook did this in the first place was mostly for reason #3 and rarely for individuals.

Still thinking about doing this? If you are be sure to read the Converting Your Profile info from Facebook to see if you should even be thinking about this and it might behoove you to read these migration nightmares, Facebook Profile to Page Migration Nightmare, Facebook Profile Migrations: A Cautionary Tale or Facebook Fan Page Migration Disaster.

Okay, you have been warned and I feel like I have done my due diligence, so if this all goes into the crapper, please don’t say I didn’t warn you. With that said, if you have decided to go for it, here are some things to keep in mind, so the process doesn’t shock your social media heart.

The updsides . . .

You can interact with more than 5,000 people. Oh poor me, I have too many friends, but yeah, that’s why I finally did it.
As I have shared before, there are some great features now on pages. Being able to interact with people as a page is a great improvement and now that the “share of facebook” button on most pages includes “post to page” you can share a good deal on your page.
If you are a “brand” you can interact with your customers and have a wider reach that is not hampered by the privacy settings of a profile. As a business you can also authorize multiple people to administer and interact as the page.
If you are an individual, you can have a separate FB life that is made up of people who really are your friends and family.

That’s about all the upsides that I have for you, now the the downsides and each of these can be broken down into smaller version, but I’ll just give you the big picture view of the downsides . . .

You lose all of your stuff. photos, notes, etc. so be ready to say good bye to all of the things that had previously been part of your profile. You can download your info, but you still have to repost everything if you want the info to move over.
Starting a new profile sucks. Not only is confusion created now that you have two identities on Facebook, you will have to navigate the creation and use of your new profile. Dealing with new friend requests, juggling a new facebook email address and log-in and all new information to build enter is just not worth it.
Interacting is different. A page cannot interact with a profile, only other pages, so the interaction happens because people come to the page, not by you going to them. Pages cannot send messages, tag profiles, etc. Again, read my review of recent changes to pages to get a better idea, but the interaction via a page is greatly limited in comparison to profiles.

Some warnings if you are still inclined . . .

During the migration process I had a mild heart attack because for a good chuck of time, about two hours, it appeared as if my profile did not bring over any of my friends. The likes count sat at “0″ for way too long.
If you do this, your original facebook account now becomes a business account which does NOT have a profile component so by migrating you will be giving up both the email address and name of your profile. You can choose a new name for your new page and can administer it with your current email address, but if you start a new profile it means a new email, login and name for your profile.
Many of the other social media platforms that are connected to your current email will not automatically share on your page, but as long as you are logged in, will automatically go to your new profile. If separation of your public and private is important, say goodbye to that kind of sharing, which is one of the best parts of the profile. Many of the “share on facebook” buttons now have a page option, but the “like” buttons and other automatic sharing will go to the new profile.

Okay, so there you have it. Here is the link to begin the process. Good luck, Godspeed and let me know how it goes.

You Might be a Progressive Christian if . . .

June 16, 2011 By

For those who follow the going’s on at Patheos.com you will notice a new grouping of bloggers and columnists now called, “Progressive Christians.” This is a newly launched portal on the site and has drawn together such bloggers and columnists as Phyllis Tickle, Diana Butler Bass, Monica Coleman and others. Partnering with this summer’s Wild Goose Festival, the first challenge we were given was to post thoughts as part of a Symposium on Progressive Christianity where we would offer reflections on this admittedly nebulous classification.

As I thought about what I wanted to offer, I resisted reading what others had already offered up. I’m not really sure why I didn’t want to first read what others had said, but I felt like this symposium was more about broadening our understanding of what might be considered “progressive Christianity” than trying to come to an agreed upon definition.

Before I offer up my list of “progressivisms” let me first claim an assumption that I have with the word itself. While being “progressive” in politics and theology is often seen as ascribing to a “liberal” platform and belief system, I do not believe this to be true. For me the “progressive” adjective can exist across the theological spectrum, but holds together people who are looking at moving the church into new ways of being church.

You, so here we go, my intentionally fuzzy list of perspectives and postures that might make you a Progressive Christian. Please keep in mind that I do not think that everyone need be one, but that there is a growing number of people who yearn for a drastically different approach to being the Body of Christ.

“You might be a progressive Christian if . . .”

You can be described, but not defined - Do people have a hard time putting you into a theological and ideological box? The Progressive Christian often confuses staunch liberals and conservatives with the unpredictability of her conduct and the openness of her perspective.
You are more than a party platform - Do folks assume that because you land on one side on one issue, it must hold true that you prescribe to a laundry list of conservative or liberal beliefs? The Progressive Christian might be pro-this or pro-that, but he is rarely tied to any set platform.
You are not just waiting for the other side to get over their idiocy – Do you think questioning the intellect of the opposition because they are the opposition is silly and not really about having meaningful conversations?The Progressive Christian will always honor the idea that community only grows if she is open to the possibility that she might be just as wrong as the other side things she is.
You believe God can and does speak through disagreement – Does it frustrate you that so many have a difficult time being open to the possibility that genuine and faithful discernment by opposing sides might take place? The Progressive Christian, even in the most difficult of disagreements, trusts that the other is discerning the movement of the Spirit just as faithfully as he is.
You seek the highest common denominator – Would you rather find common ground in larger questions such as, ‘Who is Christ for you?’ and ‘How do we address poverty and violence?’ rather than put a great deal of energy into controlling the every move of other members of the community? The Progressive Christian, by directing energy towards finding common ground on bigger issues seeks to build trust and make real the ever elusive idea that we can”agree to disagree.”
You find God’s inerrant truth in a non-literal understanding of Scripture – Do you believe that Biblical authority does not mean the same thing Biblical literacy literalism? The Progressive Christian claims the Truth of God is revealed in Scripture, but that it is a truth that must be wrestled with, unpacked and never used as a weapon.
You bear with the battles – Ever wonder if some people wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if they were not in a good church fight? The Progressive Christian knows that there are times to engage in passionate and righteous interactions, but she is not defined by the polemics nor does she determine her worth by the existence of the fight.
You appreciate the person over position - Do you find yourself drawn to relationships across theological chasms because the other person is genuine and approaches the journey of faith in similar ways? When engaging in theological discussion over tough issues, the Progressive Christian values the complex personhood that she experiences with the other over and above the rightness or wrongness of the position being discussed.
You choose the middle - Do old school left/right, black/white, good/bad polemics frustrate the heck out of you? The Progressive Christian, often accused of being soft, sees the “middle” as a place to model a new and faithful way of being church regardless of the arrows fired that are fired from edges.
You do not demand loyalty – Are you shocked at the way that “friends” turn on one another when someone engages in real conversations with the opposition? The Progressive Christian can live with the idea that loyalty to a position or a person can easily turn into idolatry and that being open to true dialogue with and being gracious towards people who disagree is not a sign of weakness, but an expression of strength.

I am sure that there are plenty of others out there, there is plenty of overlap and not everyone who considers herself a Progressive Christian will fit perfectly into each of these statements. With that said, if the very notion of not fitting into every predefined theological slot does not cause you anxiety and stress . . . hate to break it to you, but you might be a Progressive Christian.