How To Receive Notification for New Responses in Facebook Discussion Board
Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Facebook, Google Reader, How To, Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Tracking, Web Application | Posted on 10-03-2010
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Discussion board can be one of the most underrated applications in Facebook Fan Page. It is a mini forum for fans to interact with one another; an excellent area for admin to collect feedback, answer requests and bond with fans in discussions.
However, most of us have neglected its importance due to a huge setback - Facebook does not provide notification for new responses. Fans can either bookmark the thread to check back regularly or have the page admin to send weekly reminders for unanswered threads. Inconvenient and time consuming. Your fans will eventually lose interest and move on.
Why Don’t Just Let the Fans Post on Wall instead?
No doubt we are encouraging an open-posting fan page. However, allowing fans to post on Facebook Wall is a complete different issue than owning an active discussion board. Not only it’s an added value but also a perfect section for new fans to blend in with others. You can easily monitor and trace back the discussions without worrying they be swallowed by busy stream of updates.
While we earnestly hoping for a solution from Facebook, I’m going to share with you how I keep up with the discussion threads:
Google Reader to Track New Responses in Facebook Discussion Board
The main idea is to create a feed from the existing thread and have Google Reader track for new responses. Here are the configuration steps:
1. Identify the link location for the particular thread you wish to trace.
2. Click ‘Add a Subscription’ to reveal the link box. Paste the URL, click ‘Add’ and a new feed for the thread will be generated.
3. Rename the feed and repeat step 1-2 for other discussion threads. Manage them in a folder for easy follow-up.
4. Once a fan has responded to the selected discussion topic (for example: Fan’s Profile), within an hour Google Reader will retrieve the update as any other regular feed from your subscription.
Now you can head right back to the discussion board and welcome her!
Is it Possible to Receive Updates via Email or Desktop Notifier?
Email notification is not possible for Google Reader. Some third party feed generator services, however, come with delivery options, for example Page2RSS.com combines with notify.me (email alerts); Feed Notifier is a desktop application as you can see in the image below:
I do need to remind you that time of delivery may differ from one service to another. Google Reader is still by far, my top pick for reliability.
Bonus Tip :
For feed delivery services / notifiers that are unable to recognize / generate feed straight from a discussion thread, you can retrieve the Atom Feed URL for the entire folder which consists of all the discussion threads by following the below method:
1. In Google Reader, go to Manage Subscriptions.
2. Go to Folders & Tags (publicize the feed) > View Public Page.
3. Copy link location for Atom Feed and use it for any feed delivery service preferred. (Make sure the folder feed is ‘publicly viewable’ at all times for the application to work)
Now Is Your Turn …
Do you have a better way to track new responses in Facebook discussion board? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
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This is such a fabulous post, Ching Ya. I’m definitely tweeting this. It’s the kind of thing I’m sure a lot of people want to find out how to do.
Thank you!
Anne Lyken-Garner´s last blog ..Enjoyable Things To Do For Your Sister
Anne,
Thank you so much, I’m glad it helps. Hopefully this little trick can reach out to many so Facebook will see how important it is for Discussion Board to equip with a notification setting. Appreciate your kindness to share, big thanks!
Very interesting tips like always Ching Ya!
Because I don’t have time enough to discover this by my self, it’s good to visit your blog from time to time
Hesham @ FamousBloggers´s last blog ..To Schedule tweets or NOT to tweet?
Hesham,
I know how busy you are to manage all the sites.
Just pop in the requests anytime and I’ll try to see if I could find out the solutions. Do make use of that Discussion board, alright? 
See you around my friend.
I will do my best
Hesham @ FamousBloggers´s last blog ..5 Powerful Ways to Write Dynamic Content
I wonder why I never thought of using RSS to receive such notifications – it’s a fantastic idea
I’ve pretty much stopped using forums inside Facebook fan pages because I got sick and tired of never knowing when somebody replied.
Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..Google Street View – More Funny Pictures
Me too, Klaus. I was this close to give up on it until the light bulb moment.
I wonder if Facebook would actually consider that after implementing the Facebook mail? Let’s hope so, until then, manual setting it is.
Thank you so much for visiting!
well I’m always wondering how to find this way….I don’t think google reader can do it…
thanks Ching ya…love to follow your blog ^_^
zack@black wallpaper´s last blog ..Black Wallpaper
Zack,
It’s interesting to see how Google Reader and Facebook can help one another.
Nothing is impossible, gotta try. Thanks so much for visiting.
I don’t use my RSS reader nearly enough. I have known for a while it has many varied uses beyond my usual recreation, but this Facebook tip is surely one of the most ingenious uses I have come across. Thanks so much for pointing it out.
Jay Zuck@Drawing Sketch Art´s last blog ..Visual Hallucination in Pencil
Jay,
Appreciate you dropping by.
Me too, I haven’t been playing much with Reader until recent days. Inspired with some of the existing features thanks to Buzz. Hope to find more. Thanks so much for commenting.
Hi Ching..yet another useful post form your side. You are truly a great blogger…a great researcher I must say. So many things to learn from you. Keep up the fantastic work
Aswani´s last blog ..The button you should tweak hard…
Aswani,
Thank you so much. No where near great, just crazy in search for answers.
Glad to share the findings, hope it’ll save time for those who need it. Have you been active in fan page yourself? Thanks for commenting.
And I thought I understand my Google Reader inside out. Wow. Perhaps you worked for the Scotland Yard in your previous life? LOL. Great tip!
Jan,
I actually have to look up Scotland Yard to know what you are referring to. lol.. not until that level, my literature friend.
Always glad to have your visit here. I would love to know what other tricks you know about Google Reader.
So little time to explore.
All I can add is a word of thanks. I save all these tutorials for if/when I recreate a FB account (deleted last year in frustration)
I’m definitely leaning towards going back though, things seem to be picking up big time.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..How Contextual Links will Open On DEDC – My Setup FINALIZED!
Dennis,
Good to know.
I’ll be counting the days. Wait for your big come back. Worth a try, most definitely.
FYI – Not sure if anyone else has reported this, but the entire content area (just the left side) goes blank after pressing submit on a comment…if I wish to come back I have to click the email link again.
Oh, sometimes it comes up blank after clicking through from the email itself, then I have to click “home” and find the post.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..How Do You Cover SEO *Per Post*?
Dennis,
Thank you for notifying me about this. It seems like this problem just existed recently in my blog, need to check first. Personally when I comment the page loads fine after ‘Submit’, I wonder why.
Hope to discover a solution for this soon.
Anytime, glad I could help. Most will just keep it to themselves and complain…not me, you can always count on me to harass you if there’s a problem.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..48hr Downtime – Lots Done-LOTS More To-Do!
Dennis,
Ha.. thank you, I really appreciate that.
ya its a very nice post .. think all bloggers have to take a note on it
good post
Ram kumar´s last blog ..Top Ten Tips to Improve System Speed
Ram,
Thank you for visiting. Hope this can solve part of the problem.
Fantastic idea to track user created thread(post). I usually do this type of trick to get alert on particular search term. Never thought something like this for Facebook, may be because I rarely use Facebook this day.
Arafat Hossain Piyada´s last blog ..Give Gmail a CRM(Customer relationship management) capability with Rapportive
Arafat,
Thank you for commenting.
Funny how little things can work wonders, isn’t it? Great to know you find this useful.
Did you compare the results between Google Alerts & Reader? It never occurred to me to use Reader to track search terms yet. Love to know how it works out for you.
Damn, what a useful post
I’m a heavy facebook user, and I’m thinking about adding the discussion tab. That would be a greeeat community-build-booster. It’s awesome what you’ve found out, but I hope the facebook staff will change add this function in the future !
Mars Dorian´s last blog ..Whatever you think, think the opposite
Mars,
Same here, that would be much more convenient if FB can improve the notification feature, including the wall post alert too. Appreciate your visits and comments, thanks so much for returning.
This is a great find. Thank you. I like all your FB tips.
Hannah,
Welcome and thank you so much for dropping by.
Grateful to your encouraging words, hope can offer more ideas for everyone to brainstorm. Hope to see you here again soon.
Another very helpful article Ching Ya! I was wondering how to do this and you have provided a great way to! Thanks!
Kevin@ShootingtheBreeze´s last blog ..4 attitudes that destroy our spiritual passion
Hi Kevin,
Thank you and I hope this will help your page network with fans.
Appreciate your consistent support.
So simple, so brilliant!
Now if we could find a workaround for searching the discussions
Kim Woodbridge´s last blog ..How to Filter the Facebook News Stream by Fan Pages
Kim,
Superb idea! Will need to dig harder then.
ha.. we should have a Facebook wishlist jotted down and send to FB support team, if they ever answered that is. Always a pleasure to have you here.
You come up with goods like these itz amazing the commitment you give towards blogging !! applauds ching ya
Sandeep,
Thank you, nothing motivates me more to have feedback from fellow readers so I do appreciate every comment and request, keep them coming. ^^ Happy blogging.
Got to hand it to you Ching Ya, you sure know how to sort out some nifty solutions. I’ve not made use of the discussion boards on FB yet, but at least once I do I’ll be able to keep track of the replies
Sire´s last blog ..The Honest Truth About ACME People Search Engine
Thank you Sire for taking the time to visit and comment. Be sure to nudge me if you ever plan for a Facebook page, will join to support. See you around (hopefully FB someday).
I’ll be sure to do that Ching Ya.
Sire´s last blog ..What Is The True Power Of The Blog?
Thanks Ching Ya for this useful post. Once again you had solved the major problem caused by Facebook discussion board and provided a great solution. Great job and keep it up.
Free Malaysia Classified@Buy Sell Listing´s last blog ..Apple iphone 3gs 32gb sealed in box, Nokia n97 Mini
Welcome FMC,
Thank you and I appreciate your words. Let me know if you have any requests so we can all brainstorm to improve our Facebook presence. All the best in your networking.
That is a great tip!
I’ve been experimenting with google alerts on other things too and finding the alert feed and/or email notices can be useful if you know what to do with it!
HART (1-800-HART)´s last blog ..PetLvr Guide – Pet Adoption and Rescue (free download)
Absolutely, Hartley.
It intrigues me more whenever a trick is discovered. Never thought Reader could be this useful, I wonder what else I missed? Gotta keep digging, snooping.. lol..
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment.
Great job on your ebook!
Every need to bookmark it i already have done it
Thanks for your great work 
Rathnakumar´s last blog ..5 Ways to Reduce Spams
Rathna,
Appreciate your participation and great to see you are making use of our fan page discussion board wisely.
Keep up the good work.
Great article Ching Ya.
I love Google Reader. Did some house keeping there lately. And will add some of your tip to kick my RSS skills up a notch.
It’s nice that Facebook allow this option for Discussion, and also that you can subscribe to Notes.
You should do a plain Google Reader article, sure it will be handy for many.
Cheers.. Are
Are Morch´s last blog ..Will Social Media Get Me More Customers?
Are,
This is a wonderful idea.
I always needed a push to dig deeper. I guess as the Facebook wishlist increases, the urge for better approach is mounting too. I’ll see what I can do. Good job for doing the housekeeping, reminding me to do mine too — to clear the clutter a bit.
Thanks so much for commenting.
Its the most easiest way! Rather than visiting every gropu for checking the discussions, using Google reader for all the conversations saves time and makes it all available under one roof. But, I din’t know it was this easy..
Rohit Sane@Tech Stuff´s last blog ..How to use Twitter as a keyword research tool?
Rohit,
Now you know.
Time to get busy and get those active links imported. We wouldn’t want to miss any updates now, would we? Thanks so much for visiting.
Me and my friends only use the Inbox send messages to all hehe. You can also see who replied. But there is a limit of 20 people in the send to section.
Rian´s last blog ..Free Download PSP Games Philippines – Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS lite i
I just now created fanpage for my website…I have to try this
very nice find
sudharsan @ technoskillonline´s last blog ..Tips to Boost Pagerank – Next PR update March-April 2010
No joke, Facebook is becoming a huge thing. People have made millions for the apps, and marketers are taking advantage of all the features with the website itself. Now, it’s not that easy to be doing all these things at once. That’s why I recommend opening up a fan page.
Ching, I really have to give it to you, you got the best social media tips and tricks I’ve come across, ever! Facebook is such a treasure just waiting to be cracked open, and you got some really nice techniques to assist in this quest. This page is getting a Stumble and a Digg from me!
I am off now to go discover more about facebook’s discussion board. I’m looking forward to more social media insight from you, thank you for sharing your knowledge.