A colleague of mine recently emailed me this post from CIO.com about Facebook and how this popular social networking tool can distract people and sap productivity. While the blogger makes some valid points about the questionable usefulness of certain Facebook applications and people’s tendency to get lost on-line, I have to say I still think that Facebook is a great business and social networking tool. Here’s why.
- Facebook makes it easy for me to let my friends, colleagues, and clients know that I am thinking of them. It reminds me when my contacts’ birthdays are, lets me share interesting articles, photos, and videos to groups of friends, and helps me get to know the personal side of my contacts, not just the business side.
- Facebook is “sticky” and I have a reason to go there everyday. Facebook updates me on what everyone in my network is doing on a daily basis…sure a lot of the information is useless or silly, but sometimes there’s a golden nugget about a friend or colleague’s success, an upcoming industry event, a reunion, a book recommendation, or an interesting product or service.
- Facebook is fun. Sometimes after I’ve just completed a project or when I’m stuck on how to tackle a new project, I jump on Facebook. Distraction? Maybe…But sometimes a distraction is just what I need to get the creative juices flowing for the next project. If I’m stuck on a project that my contacts may be able to help me with, I pose a question to the group and get invaluable advice that helps propel me forward.
- Facebook lets people get to know me better. People build relationships based on frequency of encounters and trust. Facebook simply expedites this process and helps people get to know me faster. Once an authentic relationship is established we can begin to share information that will help each other.
If you want to learn more about Facebook and how to get the most out of it, check out Jason Alba and Jesse Stay’s new book, I’m on Facebook…Now What??? here.
