[Jono]

The facebook fan page seems to have caused a stir, and points out how few have joined Capital's page.

While checking my Facebook newsfeed earlier, I noticed my friend Caroline had become a fan of The Chris Moyles Show. This was exciting news because I like listening to Chris Moyles too. Unfortunately my friend Ed had updated his status to say he was considering deleting any friend who became a fan, writes Paul Smith.

I signed up regardless, figuring I'd make plenty of new, like-minded friends soon enough. So what, you might be thinking. Another Facebook group to join the gazillions already on there? Who cares?

Lots of people, as it happens. In under a fortnight, more than 163,000 Facebook users have signed up as fans of The Chris Moyles Show. There are London-wide stations struggling to achieve those sorts of numbers by broadcasting on FM.

By becoming a fan, each user has promoted the show to their Facebook friends through newsfeeds. If each fan has 100 friends... which is why Chris Moyles cares.

The power of viral marketing on this scale is phenomenal. Aside from tens of thousands of user recommendations appearing online every day, loyalty amongst existing listeners will increase, which in turn will stretch the average time spent listening to the show.

And here's the kicker. What Moyles and co have created hasn't been achieved through focus groups, marketing budgets, the unique way the BBC is funded, or by any means that hasn't been available to every radio station for the past year.

Commercial groups and the BBC have spent countless hours building Facebook applications to stream their content, but to what end? Why create something that simply mimics the station's website or worse, the listener's radio? The home of Moyles on Facebook took seconds to create, yet offers a different user experience to listening to the show or surfing the Radio 1 website.

There's a fundamental lesson here for everyone who believes they're successfully utilising Facebook as a marketing tool. Capital 95.8 has a weekly reach of 1.5 million listeners against Radio 1's 10.7 million - a seven fold difference. The fan pages for both Capital and Moyles went live at the same time, give or take a day.

At the time of writing, Capital had clocked up 928 fans. You don't need to be the continuity director on Lost to realise the yawning chasm in relative popularity between the two.

Radio 1 lends itself to a younger audience more likely to be heavy Facebook consumers, but that's not the reason. Moyles has plugged the fans directly into the fabric of his show. Every day the listeners are creating content that moments later is being discussed live by the likes of Comedy Dave and Aled.

Social media creates communities, which is just another word to describe audiences. Facebook is a tool that can create audiences for radio. Why has it taken Chris Moyles to figure this out?

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgrinde ... k_new.html

[foot-loose]

Why has it taken Chris Moyles to figure this out?

I thought it was Adam that figured it out?

[Console]

Does anyone think that Chris and the team were really thinking about it that deeply, or seriously for that matter?

Secondary point - do people really have 100 friends on Facebook?

[Jono]

Ha, agreed, can't imagine that was the idea at all. Although if I was Adam I'd want some cash for that. I bet there's geeks working for the Beeb getting paid to do something like that.

[Yudster]

I don't think Chris and the team were for a minute, but I'm pretty sure someone in BBC Marketing was.

[foot-loose]

Ha, course not. Although if I was Adam I'd want some cash for that. I bet there's geeks working for the Beeb getting paid to do something like that.

Don't go giving him ideas!

[Jono]

I don't think Chris and the team were for a minute, but I'm pretty sure someone in BBC Marketing was.

To get a facebook.com/thechrismoylesshow you have to officially put in for it and get in touch with Facebook marketing. So what seemed a bit of fun seems something quite serious now.

[Console]

I must admit, I really don't 'get' this whole Facebook thing. I had a glance at the page earlier and all it is is a shoutbox thing, and a simple forum. Unless there's something I'm not seeing because I haven't signed up them I'm missing the big 'wow' about it.

[Yudster]

It's grown really fast. I'm pleased for everyone involved, its obviously a great success. Still not joining Facebook though......

[foot-loose]

I must admit, I really don't 'get' this whole Facebook thing. I had a glance at the page earlier and all it is is a shoutbox thing, and a simple forum. Unless there's something I'm not seeing because I haven't signed up them I'm missing the big 'wow' about it.

Seconded.

Not meaning to take anything away from whatever it is, but it does come across as a complete willy waving excersise. Once you are added as a friend, I can't quite see what the benefit is. But, like Console, I am not a member of facebook, so I am maybe not seeing the whole picture.

[Andy B]

You get regular updates in your Notifications. The admins type what's coming up in future shows or tell people that new photos or whatever are onliiiiiine. Basically you get a newsletter with it too. Now all they need are two badges like you used to get when you joined the Dennis the Menace Fan Club and they've cracked it!

Just replace the furry Gnasher badge with the wobbly eyes for a furry Chris one!

[Jono]

Here's what Aled had to say on the facebook:

I love the fact that the Guardian think we're being ultra clever with these pages when in fact we're just having fun!

Incidentally, we've achieved 160,000 users in a week rather than two weeks!

No doubt there'll be talk of the article and the fan page tomorrow morning on the show! Make sure you'r near your computer as well as theradio after 9!

We're bigger than Hilary Clinton lets see if we can beat Barak Obama too!

Aled
xx

[Console]

It's good for wasting time because of some of the applications on there like the Scrabulous or the Scramble one which is just Boggle. I'm finding my vocabulary is increasing a bit again because I'm learning new words. Before Scrabble I never heard of Qi or Xi.

Haven't those games been around for years, and by years I mean even before Facebook was around. Hell, I think they were around before the internet was. You know what, I'm fairly confident that Scrabble was around even before computers.

[Adam]

I provided the candle, Chris and Aled lit it.

[Jono]

I provided the candle, Chris and Aled lit it.

When did you go all philosophical?

[Andy B]

Yeah but if you wanted to play scrabble pre facebook you had to have people round or run up a really expensive phone bill...

Scrabulous is great cos you can play it at your lesiure against someone who doesn't need to be online at the same time, they will just see your go next time they log on. That's why it's one of the most used applications on Facebook.

Oh and Lottie how can you not have heard of Qi - I watch it every week, I think Stephen Fry is great...not too sure about Xi though, I don't drive.

[Console]

Yeah but if you wanted to play scrabble pre facebook you had to have people round or run up a really expensive phone bill...

There were many Java and Flash versions of the games of a large amount of websites in the 'pre-facebook' era of the web. I think there were one or two Javascript ones too.

Scrabulous is great cos you can play it at your lesiure against someone who doesn't need to be online at the same time, they will just see your go next time they log on.

Sounds like E-mail scrabble to me.

[Andy B]

Well fine maybe it is but your way you would need to get a scrabble board and in these times of instant demand it's far easier if you just have everything to hand on one hand site....like Facebook.

Not saying it's a new thing nor that it's the sole reason for joinng facebook...just that facebook offers the posibility to do more than poke random people and try to chat up your friends frinends by throwing a sheep at them!

[Console]

Well fine maybe it is but your way you would need to get a scrabble board and in these times of instant demand it's far easier if you just have everything to hand on one hand site....like Facebook.

Actually it was an application. It had a built in email client so you could send the latest moves (which were automatically added at the other end) and send messages.

Not saying it's a new thing nor that it's the sole reason for joinng facebook...just that facebook offers the posibility to do more than poke random people and try to chat up your friends frinends by throwing a sheep at them!

Maybe, but it just doesn't sound particularly worthwhile to me.

[Jono]

I can't help thinking it's taking the attention away from here though.

[Console]

I don't think it is, and to be perfectly honest, I was looking at some of the threads on there and (God Damn!) am I glad that those aren't on here; it would be hell.

[MK Chris]

Haha.. I've not seen, but I imagine it to be like the old BBC message boards.

[Yudster]

I can't help thinking it's taking the attention away from here though.

I think from what I've seen the Facebook thing will provide an excellent place for all the people to go who perhaps might venture into here and then run away screaming. And thats actually only a small number of txt spkng types who don't seem to have anything to say for themselves. If anything, there's been a slight increase in decent new posters here in the last couple of weeks, so it might be having the opposite effect, who knows?

Either way though, it looks to me like there's plenty of room for both of us. I'm sure if Scott did a similar thing with Facebook it wouldn't have an adverse effect on UM, would it?

[Console]

Haha.. I've not seen, but I imagine it to be like the old BBC message boards.

You should take a look, there's at least ten threads that have 'Two Word Tango' in the title, sometimes referencing 'body parts' or 'porn star names' or other stupid topics. How can Two Word Tango, a game that is based around the idea of having a limited time to think, work on a forum?

There's also threads like 'I slept with Chris Moyles last night' which consist entirely of thousands of posts saying only that. There's also a 'When I say Pub, You Say Quiz' thread that I haven't looked at, but I think I can guess what'd be in it.

Obviously there's also the classics like 'Why is half-time called half-time' (and people still not noticing it's 'Ramble' and not 'Rumble') and although I haven't seen it, I've no doubt that there's a "What's Chris' Gamertag" thread somewhere too.

[MK Chris]

Ah yes.. they do seem to be a bit overly 'UM'-like in their posting.