Not for the first time, William Shatner found himself embarking upon a brave mission into the unknown. His destination this time? Facebook’s trial of the Mentions app, designed to help the famous super-followed keep on top of their social media presence. Shatner’s lengthy review of the app ends with the conclusion that it’s not hugely useful for the celebs it targets, saying: “I’m not quite sure why Facebook released this app for ‘celebrities’. It seems to be ill conceived. I will probably use it to post to my Facebook when I’m on my phone but it doesn’t allow for mail or groups. I will continue to use my regular Facebook app as well as the Pages app.”
Curious what Facebook Mentions is like? You’re likely not alone, but also not alone n that you’re just not cool enough to be able to take advantage. One of the coolest guys on earth has reviewed it for you, though. William Shatner, who is probably your hero anyway, compares Mentions to your existing Facebook experience. Mentions was created to help those with recognized Facebook profiles — like Shatner — take advantage of Facebook, and better manage their social presence. Charts are offered up in Pages, showing you how your account is doing, but not in Mentions. As the app suggest, mentions of your name are served up to you better so you can adequately respond, but the lack of a graphic showing you overall performance is confusing. Shatner, in his judgement of Mentions, notes a few glaring omissions. The options built into Mentions for communicating with followers is a touch better than our app. Shatner feels a Q&A option is an uptick over Pages’ text, photo, and video content, but that both fail at giving anyone the best experience.
