Facebook is the first social media platform where the Humans of New York appeared. Six years since its first post on Facebook, Humans of New York has almost 18 million followers. For many, the only reason they know about HONY is because they saw the posts on Facebook.
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For the loyal followers of HONY, Facebook allows for dynamic interaction that fosters fandom and furthers the community of HONY as a whole as well as their activism efforts.
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The major ways in which HONY functions on Facebook are outlined below.
Initial HONY post
The initial post, such as the screenshot of a post to the left, is an image along with the story of the person in the caption section.​
Captions vary from post to post. The length of the caption is not directly correlated to the number of "likes", "comments" or "shares" the post will receive (the viral-ness). Some of the popular stories may only be a few poignant sentence quotes.
Like
"Like"
The original method of a one-click interaction on Facebook, when a fan "Likes" a HONY post, they show a positive reaction to the post.
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"Love"
Pretty self-explanatory, fans can express a deeper level of appreciation for a specific post by literally "loving" the post.
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"React"
This function provides yet another layer of customized interaction/response for the HoNY fan. In contrast to the "Like" and "Love" buttons, the "React" button allows fans to express a myriad of emotions -- from "Haha", "Wow", "Sad" and "Angry".
Though all of these responses require the least effort on the part of the fan (they are literally just clicking one button), it is a way to not only interact with the post, but also to show other fans and "friends" that he/she likes the post. Facebook will automatically show, for example, "Jane Smith recently liked this post", with the post they "Liked" underneath.
In most cases, followers of HONY "Like" the posts that are in line with their personal interests and passions. Thus, connecting with and expanding a specific community. Though to an onlooker it may be seen as an almost "mindless" way to participate, the viral nature of a post is often measured by the number of "Likes" a post generates. Though there are no published studies regarding HONY monitoring the statistics of "Likes", or any of the activity on the HONY posts, it is likely that Stanton does consider the nature of the posts that receive the most positive reaction ("Likes"). In the very least, it is without a doubt that the general public (those who do not regularly follow HONY) are more likely to pay attention to a HONY post that has 256K "Likes", rather than 86K.
Comment
The commenting tool provides the fans with a platform on which to participate.
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In the comments, fans can write anywhere from a few words, to several paragraphs with either positive, negative or indifferent comments on the HONY post.
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The comment function is where the true community aspect comes into play. People that comment often "feed" off of another persons' comment - someone that they most likely do not know personally or outside of the digital space. In the case of positive comments, this space allows for a community to build around a specific post topic -- allowing for a fan to be surrounded by a digital community of people who agree with them.
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The same is true with negative comments. Negative commenters will often group up together, creating their own support group of people who are against a specific post.
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Share
When a fan "Shares" a HONY post, the entire cycle of posting interaction has virtually started again.
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Now, instead of the post showing up on a HONY follower's Facebook feed page, a HONY post could show up on the feed page of someone who may or may NOT be a follower of HoNY. Essentially, the HONY follower who "Shared" the post, is acting a second hand delivery method.
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Now, friends of this HONY follower who "Shared" the entire post, have the ability to do any of the actions that were available for a follower of HONY, without even following the page.
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And while the true fandom of HONY are all avid followers, sharers, liker-s and commenters, a person could stay up to date with the posts of HoNY simply by virtue of being friends with a HONY fan and scrolling through their Facebook feed and monitoring that friends' activity. Thanks to Facebook, people all over the world never even have to go to the Humans of New York website, or even be a follower of HONY to know about HONY and to stay up-to-date with their posts.
