RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

What sets Mushfique Ahmed apart from most Bangladesh cricket fans is that he works closely with the cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim and helps run his official Facebook fan page. It's the second largest celebrity fan page in Bangladesh. I had a chat with Mushfique to gather intel on how someone can go about running their own fan page. 

First of all let's address the issue of why anyone (especially you) would want to waste valuable time (that could be spent procrastinating) to maintain a fan page? Here's what Mushfique had to say, "I saw that most international cricketers had large fan bases on social media and thought that our heroes deserved that same. I decided to take the initiative and created the page for Mushfiqur Rahim. But I guess what inspired me the most was that this could be a medium through which I could actually get closer to my hero." So you see, with dedication and perseverance your Facebook fan page may actually help you connect with the very person you are a fan of. I will admit though that Mushfique's case is unique: as a regular stadium-goer and someone with cricketing contacts, it was possible for him to get in touch with Mushfiqur and get the man involved. Whereas if your page is about, say, a Korean pop star, the chances of meeting your hero through your page are slim.

On the other hand, what your fan page can help you achieve is: bringing together other fans who share your enthusiasm. Fandoms are about making connections with people from all walks of life and sharing your mutual passion. Instead of complaining about the unreasonably violent, verbally abusive and overtly obsessive fans, you can create a bright atmosphere (on your fan page) to "spread the love." 

On that note, if you do decide to start a fan page, you have to be prepared to deal with haters. Mushfique sighs as he tells me, "A major problem I have faced is that the fans of our country are very emotional rather than practical. Yes, cricket is more than just a sport for us but we must understand that these players give their best every time they go out on the field. It's sometimes very disheartening to see fans making unreasonably rude comments when our team loses."

Yet, haters may be the least of your problems in the face of hackers. Before we get to that let's first talk about how to make your page popular enough to attract the interest of hackers. Of course there is inviting your friends to like the page and share its contents but here's a tip: if you have friends who live abroad ask them, especially, to like and share, that way news of the existence of your page reaches fans around the world. You can also share your page in groups catering to your fandom. Although, bear in mind that advertising your page in the comment section of random photos on Facebook is rather, well unsavoury. Don't fret too much about the number of likes on your page, as long as you interact with the people who already like your page and keep up a regular stream of interesting posts, it will become popular in time. Even if it doesn't, you have the satisfaction of being able to engage with likeminded people; that in itself is enough, isn't it? 

The flipside of being in charge of running a page that has over 3 million 'likes' is that you can get a lot of unwanted attention. "I got my account hacked once and I had to scan my passport and send it to Facebook...17 times," says Mushfique. "After that I always try to keep myself undercover so that the page is secure from hackers. This is the first time I'm talking in public about my work. This is because I took a few precautionary measures. I have made another secret Facebook account and kept that account as the main admin so that the page is still safe in case my actual ID gets hacked. Even getting access to my account can't remove the other account from the admin list."

Talking about admins, Mushfique has a few bits of advice to offer, "People should be careful in selecting other admins to help them out. Any admin has the ability to remove another. It's best that when appointing new admins, you set lower ranks such as moderator for the new ones. As such, newer admins won't have the option to remove the main admin."

Finally I asked Mushfique how he runs his fan page. "Mushfiqur Rahim is the primary administrator of the page and visits it whenever he has the time. When on tour, he usually sends me photos and quotes and I post them on the page on his behalf. He gets really inspired when fans write something positive on the page." This is of course not the only way you can run a fan page. You can share your fan art, post funny memes and updates, link articles for your fandom, design quizzes and do anything that suits your imagination. 
If running a fan page is something that has been on your mind you should definitely go for it. Mushfique balances his studies and relationships and also regularly updates the page; it's as hard a job as you make it out to be in your head. So, just have fun with it. 

P.S. If you want to check out the fan page mentioned: facebook.com/MushfiqurOfficial