Article

Saying goodbye to Borders … on Facebook

An analysis of the late bookseller's social media stats provides some interesting insights.

September 20, 2011

As you may have read, all Borders stores have closed. It's a sad day for book lovers, this writer included. For weeks, the Borders locations that have remained open have been promoting their "going out of business" sales – starting with 10 percent off offers and ending at the 90 percent mark. And now, the end has come.

When the first sales started, I visited my local Borders – not to partake in the purchase of discounted books, but to grieve. And what surprised me is I wasn't alone. There were many people slowly wandering the aisles with pained and sorrowful looks on their faces, taking it all in the way music lovers must have done when the popularity of digital tunes began eating away at the brick-and-mortars. It was utterly depressing.

From a social-media perspective, however, the reaction to the death of Borders isn't so much depressing as it is interesting. After Borders announced the liquidation of its stock on July 18, Media Logic began tracking its sales, as well as related activity on Facebook and Twitter, beginning on July 23. And what we saw surprised us, at first:

Here, you can clearly see that Twitter followers have been slowly declining while Facebook likers, on the other hand, have been increasing in numbers. The big question is, why would Facebook numbers be increasing for a business that is, in fact, going out of business?

First, let's think about Twitter. It's not really all that surprising that Twitter numbers would go down, because a lot of people use Twitter as a tool solely to help them keep an eye on sales promotions and deals at their favorite stores. When a store closes its doors, the deals end... and peoples' interest does, too.

But Facebook is a bit different. Sure, people like a Facebook page to get news of discount offers. But a Facebook page acts as something else: a community. A dedicated place where people can "visit" and feel a sense of belonging. There's a little bit of that with Twitter, but a Twitter page is not a destination unto itself like a Facebook page often is.

So, it would seem to me – especially given some of the comments from Borders likers – that people are now flocking to their Facebook page to grieve and to be emotional in a communal space. You know, socially.

Not so different from my in-store mourning, come to think of it.

RIP Borders. You will be missed.

Ashley DelSignore is a conversation manager for the social marketing firm Media Logic. For more on this topic, visit our social media research center.