The inevitable has happened, last week Facebook went down. For most users, this was a minor inconvenience. For social media managers, like me, this was a near tragedy. I was on a deadline to invite many people to the launch of GFYD’s Facebook Fan Page and teaching webinar attendees how to create your own custom Facebook Fan Page tab with The Fan Page Factory. Not only could I not perform my work, but I also couldn’t find out what my friends were planning for the weekend. In the interim, I wandered off around unknown parts of the web to read blogs and other industry news. I wanted to leave a comment on a blog, and found the post comment feature broken because the site was using Facebook Connect to allow me to post a comment. The “like” and “share” buttons across the web all stopped for a few hours. In the end, Facebook had to reboot their system.
During this interruption, or other interruptions like Twitter going down, we are reminded how valuable our network connections and home-base really are. For a rare switch, many of us ranted in Twitter about Facebook being down, rather than the other way around. But – we were still able to connect. As many connections as I can have on multiple platforms, the better. I can still find and connect with them in many places and continue our networking.
More importantly, the importance of having your own place for your own original content is important. Just like our servers or computers, even the big companies suffer failures. But, having your own content on your own website ensures you have a space that is yours to control. Free blog places like WordPress.com are acceptable to just get started. But to really have full control on backups, content, and a customized look, you need to have your own website on your own server.
I recommend WordPress self-hosted. I love my host: Hostgator. If you need help getting your site created or want to learn how to do this yourself, check out what my team is doing at GFYDMember.com. We are helping you build your own website and network in social media.
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- Facebook is Down, How About Your Website? (samirbalwani.com)
