As usual, FB is the high interest, low commitment sphere of ‘interest’. Lots of people said they were interested in attending the walk: out of 700 members, I got 12 expressions of interest.
I surveyed these members and a few others. Using their responses I arranged a get-together at the optimal time & location (there were two locations – not so far apart). I then created the event. I expected 2 or 3 people at most. In the end, I got 1 ‘going’ and 5 ‘interested’. Interested means literally nothing. It’s like “following”, “I’m down for it”. Whatever those mean. Oh, well… I thought “better one than none.”
Turns out none is way better than one. Especially if said ‘one’ pulls out with a vague excuse about ‘messing up their time’ only a few hours before. I didn’t see the message they posted until just after the ‘event’ started.
I’m reminded of the video on reels where someone shows up asks a question, and just disappears. FB is one low commitment ‘safe’ space. You are not actually expected to do anything. So it’s safe to say you’re ‘interested’ or even ‘going’. There’s no actual requirement to attend. Nothing lost to the user. It’s only FB.
In future, I will make a few changes on any events that I organize via FB:
- If only one goes, I’ll cancel.
- I’ll charge money and refund it on their attendance.
- I’ll try to drum up more interest first
… but I am a participant, not a pro host! I really don’t like to do the ‘rah! rah!’ cheerleader stuff. So, if I bother, that is.