We all love facts and numbers, right? Did you know that Facebook has approximately 1.5 billion users, Dan Bilzerian’s followers included? For the record, that amount is not as much as Mark Zuckerberg’s money, but it is quite a damn huge amount. It is a fact that all these users of Facebook are interested in certain products and services. Therefore Facebook is a great way to advertise your product/service and make some good money. As the Bootleggers Community is shrinking and in need of advertising, we at the Buzz had a look at the current Facebook page of Bootleggers!
Approximately two years ago I pressed the like-button on the Facebook page of Bootleggers. During that time it was quite useless for me to do that, as the page never posted anything. Regardless, my Facebook slut intuition had the need to press the like button. Now, two years later the page of Bootleggers is way more active. Periodically (once in a few days) a new status update pops up and the entire Facebook community is happy again. To investigate this sudden change of the Facebook page, we had a word with Head Moderator Mika.
‘‘A few months ago I began updating the Facebook page once a day and intended to keep doing that as long as possible’’
As we noted that the Facebook page of Bootleggers has become quite active compared to a few months ago, we at the Buzz presumed that this was a decision made by the Elite Guard. According to Mika the activity of the Facebook page was not planned, however it was slightly discussed with BSF2000. Mika explained that he personally updated the Facebook page once a day and he intended to keep doing that as long as possible. As time went by, he started reading up a little on what works and does not work for Facebook pages and adjusted the updates to match.
As curious as we are at the Bootleggers Buzz, we requested a graph of the progression of the amount of likes on the Bootleggers Facebook page (see below). We at the Buzz Team are no scientists, but we noted a significant increase of likes during the start of the month October. The reason for this significant increase is obviously related to the recent Community Challenges, where prizes were doubled due a certain amount of likes. But there is more and we continued our interview with Mika.
A graph of the increase of the amount of likes on the Facebook page of Bootleggers (thank you Youn).
This round we witnessed quite a few changes; rules but also feature wise. It seems that the game itself is standing pretty structured now (compared to last round), however the amount of players is still a point of attention. We asked Mika about the role of the Facebook page of Bootleggers (and other social media) regarding attracting new players. Mika replied: ‘‘We want to use the Facebook page as well as other social media to get the name of the game out there and to show that we are actively working on the game. The aim is also to use the social media as a way for people to get in touch with the staff, both for new and current players’’.
Based on another graph we received (which is not included in this article) we also noted the use of paid advertisements by BSF2000. According to Mika the principle is that you can pay Facebook to advertise your page and Facebook guarantees that your page will gain a certain amount of likes per day (they provide a minimum and a maximum amount that advertising will gain you). We at the Buzz found this pretty interesting, since a couple of weeks ago a new advertising feature has been introduced (the vote feature on the Profile page). It seems that Bootleggers has finally started his advertising campaign and invested real life money regarding advertisements.
‘‘Creativity is certainly an issue’’
We ended our interview with Mika asking how the future looks. Mika is not the only Moderator who posts updates on the Facebook page, but isn’t it hard for the Elite Guard to post these non-updates posts? A few weeks ago, we at the Buzz noted a post of what kind of Booze we would drink during the weekend. We can imagine that after a certain period the Elite Guard loses his creativity and cannot think of such posts anymore. Mika stated that he is the one that posts most of the updates. ‘‘BSF is the only one that, so far, has made other posts. Updating the page is a bit trying at times, but if I know that I will not have much time I queue posts for all of the week or for the next couple of days. Creativity is certainly an issue. So far, I have not had too much trouble, but the thought that I would be unable to come up with something one day has certainly crossed my mind. So far, that hasn't happened yet (luckily!), and if players stay active on the forums it probably won't happen for some time to come!’’
Finally, Mika added: ‘‘Consider leaving us your like on Facebook if you haven't already, you can really help us out! And thanks to everyone that already liked us. You guys are great!’’ Kind words of a Moderator who started posting updates on social media on his own initiative which resulted in a doubling of likes compared to one month ago. October, it might be the start of something great.
