Facebook Revisited
by Janet ~ April 16th, 2009. Filed under: Networking Nuggets.
It doesn’t seem so very long ago that I was singing the praises of Facebook for both personal and professional use, does it? How quickly things change in our high tech world!
At a BizLaunch seminar earlier this year, the facilitator quoted some interesting statistics. He said that during the first half of 2008, Facebook was the most popular social networking site for small businesses, but that during the second half of the year, Twitter had taken over. Until he said that, I hadn’t realized that I had gradually made that shift in my own preferences. More and more, I’m finding Twitter to be my favourite resource for interesting websites and blogs and keeping track of news from my business contacts.
I still like Facebook, because it’s the main way I stay in touch with old school friends and distant family members, but I no longer find it valuable for business networking. Instead, I find myself with an Inbox full of unread messages from people inviting me to participate in certain discussion groups or events, but very little real communication going on. Considering that I already receive email from some of these people and follow many others on Twitter, I really don’t need a second or third notification about these things.
To make things worse, Facebook, apparently feeling threatened by the popularity of Twitter, has restructured their site in such a way that it’s harder to find the information that does interest me. The time has come for me to start removing any “friends” that I don’t have any real connection with, in order to eliminate the clutter and continue enjoying the site on a personal level. After all, there are plenty of other sites for business networking, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and People in Connection. See you there?
April 16th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Janet, I totally agree! FB was the first social networking site I was introduced to and I did enjoy it in the very beginning – but then after about two weeks, I realized that there was too much of what I call “fluff” and I couldn’t see the value of it in terms of business use. I was and still do get flowers for my garden, fish for the pond (I don’t know that apps name), kidnap requests, etc., and while that’s fun, I could see that was really taking up valuable time. (I ignore most of those – nothing personal!)
I did enjoy connecting with groups and others on there, but like you, I still communicate by e-mail with most of the people I’m connected with there and if not there, we’re following each other on Twitter.
Since they restructured FB, I’ve been avoiding figuring it out. Again, like you, the things that did interest me are harder to find and I’m sure if I took some time to get reacquainted, I would find what I’m looking for.
I love Twitter! For me, Twitter is the best way to connect with people I know and people I”m interested in getting to know. It just seems easier and what’s that acronym? K.I.S.S. (A kinder version) Keep it simple sweetie!
Interesting post, Janet! I’m looking forward to what others have to say!
April 16th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I have to agree. I never really cozied up to Facebook for marketing because of the mix of serious with frivolous. It struck me as disorganized, with all the announcements, gifts and even the bulletin board “flair”, which I enjoy as social goofiness, but…it was just too much of a mess. I accepted other people’s invitations, both friends and business contacts I barely knew, though I did click “ignore” on anyone who I didn’t know, either in person or from internet business networking.
Twitter, on the other hand, is streamlined. It’s ORGANIZED. I can be as sociable (up to 140 characters’ worth) or as quiet as I wish without fear of getting “poked”, and I need not even dither about whether I should be following people of whom I know nothing. I can get my message out to anyone who wants to hear it, and I can use it for work (it’s a great place to get advice) or play in short bursts.
I did a teleclass for Biana Babinsky last summer on time management for social networkers, and one of things I talked about was the balance between social networking from a “database” perspective (capturing contact information, like LinkedIn was, at the start) and a communications perspective, and how more and more sites were integrating the two functions. For me, I love that Twitter is primarily about communication, and there isn’t any (or at least, need not be any) worry over reciprocity. There are some whose messages I only read, some who apparently only read me, and a lovely set of people, like Janet, with whom I enjoy communicating. And I know she’ll never “poke” me or “throw a goat” at me, and I need not ever be faced with offerings for a “little green patch”.
April 16th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Well, it looks like we three J’s are in agreement! I never did like the sillier parts of Facebook, like throwing things at people or poking them, but there are things I do enjoy, such as Scrabble and, more recently, Living Social (where you pick your top 5 TV shows, movies, etc.) But those are strictly personal activities and I don’t expect the majority of my business contacts to care what shows I watch or whether I even own a television!
And Julie, I have you to thank for persuading me to join Twitter last summer. It took a while to understand how it works, but now I love it, especially the fact which you mentioned, that you don’t have to worry about reciprocity. If I want to follow an expert in one of my areas of interest, I can, whether or not he or she wants to connect with me. And if some overeager internet marketer wants to follow me, that’s okay too, because I don’t have to follow back!
April 17th, 2009 at 6:27 am
There’s no way of measuring, in my line of work, whether there’s a benefit to being on Facebook, or any of the other networking sites, which I must confess I am loathe to even look into. But I suspect whatever benefit there may be is not sufficient to warrant the time I have allowed it to occupy in my life. I am now contemplating how I will gradually withdraw from Facebook and still maintain contact with people whose comings and goings I actually care about.
April 20th, 2009 at 6:06 am
Kathy, Facebook is the main, if not the only, way I stay in touch with a lot of people that I do care about, and although it’s not as warm and fuzzy as a phone call, getting together, or even a personal email, realistically I know if I wasn’t on Facebook I probably wouldn’t be in touch with them at all. Even with those I am in touch with outside the site, through Facebook I get a chance to enjoy their family and travel photos and learn about news I might not otherwise hear about.
April 20th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
I started on FB as a way to develop my business. While I’ve made business connections on FB, I’m tired of being bombarded by friends telling me which ’70s actor they are and which ’80s movie they know the most trivia about.
I much prefer twitter to keep in touch with business contacts. FB is too much junk to sort through to get to the good stuff.
April 21st, 2009 at 6:58 am
I don’t mind some of the fluff on Facebook, but it doesn’t mix well with business networking.
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:58 am
Social media is exciting but when asked how much time small business owners spent on FB, LinkedIN and Twitter versus how much revenue they were able to drive through those activities, the results were poor at best.
see study:
http://www.referralkey.com/small-business-blog/2009/04/13/study-finds-twitter-facebook-and-linkedin-are-not-helping-professionals-close-sales/
best,
Chris O.
Referral Key
“Your Trusted Referral Network”
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Hmmm.
First, Chris, the study you quoted surveyed salespeople, not business owners. The ownership vs. commission(able) mentality had a major impact in approach, value of time, definition of success and other factors associated with the topic.
Second, I’m not sure that I buy that a 392 person study of salespeople is statistically significant, as there’s nothing in the abstract to indicate how much training these respondents had in strategically using social networking to build their relationships with clients. How savvy were these salespeople at social networking? How technically adept? Were they “bullhorning” about their business or investing the time in useful, meaningful professional conversation?
If you’ve ever been chatted up at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon by the stereotypical sales person, the drive-by-networkers who want to tell you all about themselves and don’t stop to find out whether you need, want or can afford what they have to offer (insurance, cards, pet apparel…), then you know that the amount and quality of training one has in sales, let alone in social networking, can have a profound effect upon levels of success.
Third, success depends exactly on the effort-to-profit ratio. I put relatively little effort into social networking (though I’m on Twitter for business, I use FB very little, mostly as a Twitter-repeater) and I don’t do much on LinkedIn or other sites except connect as appropriate. However, I’ve had huge gains from Twitter–clients, ebook sales, and most importantly, the growth of many strategic partnerships and media opportunities. A few friendly interactions which took less than 20 seconds of my time, each, brought me profiles and interviews on some major sites.
My anecdotal information works only as an example. The buzz and hype around social networking is as undeserved as it is/was about article marketing, newsletters, blogging, SEO, and yes, even referrals. Improperly used or underused, any marketing method can fail. Judiciously employed, however, each technique can build upon the next to yield a successful marketing plan that is neither labor- nor cost-intensive.
My two cents…
I’m not discounting your interpretation or opinion, Chris, but I think it’s important to qualify the answers from any survey, especially one with a small set of respondents who may have little in common with what we (or some) professionals do.
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:51 am
Chris, thank you for sharing the survey results, and Julie, thank you for your thoughtful comments.
In my experience, it often takes years, rather than months, for a contact made through networking to lead to business. Therefore, since Twitter has only started to be widely used as a business networking tool for the last 6-9 months, it is much too soon to determine its ROI.
On the other hand, it is important for anyone using any of these sites to make sure they are making good use of their time and actually forming relationships rather than just having fun. (See my blog post, Social Networking and Productivity for more on this topic.