Business or personal? Facebook is making people think thrice about how much to share
Posted on | September 11, 2008 |
It’s intriguing to me to see what people choose and do not choose to share on Facebook. Right now, I see a some interesting things happening:
1) Business contacts only commenting lightly on personal matters, such as birthday wishes, but tentatively promoting work-related things of interest.
2) Friends adapting to the notification system in Facebook, such as becoming acutely aware that everything you post/subscribe to is announced to your entire friend’s list.
3) People feel OBLIGED to post updates at some points, and their feelings about it vary.
For openers, I made a choice when embarking on Facebook: I am one person.
I’ve had this discussion with some work colleagues (who actually are aware of Facebook and on it) and they know some people who have two accounts - one for business, one for personal life. I’ve even head of one person having THREE accounts, the third being for family.
To me that begs the question, “Why?” I certainly don’t expect anyone to hold my beliefs. I do, however, propose this thinking point:
What’s the harm in being one person to everyone?
I am enjoying the benefits of this now, as I grow into the belief more and more. It requires a close examination of the desire for privacy. What about your privacy makes you comfortable? Is that really necessary? What would happen if more people knew those things you held in your heart as “private”?
PERSONAL:
Here is a real example: Many months ago, I changed my Facebook profile status from “married” to “single”. In a fit of zealously I also changed my “Looking for” to “Friendship”, “Dating” and “Networking” all at once. This appeared to all my friends:
Facebook put a HEART next to my name! WTF? Is that what I am telling the world? My heart is up for grabs? It’s just an icon, folks, but it means so much to all of us. I mean of all privacy items to explore, this one is very contentious :]
The ripple effect was amazing. Shortly after I changed my status (and it was announced to everyone on my friends list via a multiple status updates), all of my friends were then aware that this box meant something. The effect? Suddenly everyone was asserting their relationship status either by adding it or taking it away. My friends list has people on 4 continents; it was like the shot heard ’round the world.
At first I was horrified. Mortified. Then I got it. I sat back and laughed long, healing belly laughs. Some people went from noting to single, single to in a relationship, single to in a relationship with someone else listed on Facebook, and some removed their status entirely. Awareness is the motivator here. Knowing that people already on your friends list get updates when you change something teaches you more about the interface. And it’s all up to you, folks. Don’t share what you do not want other people to know in such a “casual” manner - I label it as such because what is effectively a bulletin board can feel not-so-genuine. :)
Total information sharing certainly gives you plenty of opportunities to learn not only more about yourself, but also about other people. I quickly removed that I was looking for “dating”, because I was overreacting at the time. Plus, I don’t think Facebook is a good arena for meeting new people the way I use it. My friends list is not just anyone… I choose carefully.
BUSINESS:
My business contacts on Facebook use it in a variety of ways, and all could make better use of it. Some do not make business-related announcements. Perhaps they don’t feel comfortable yet, do not feel like it’s their place to do it on behalf of the company, or don’t quite understand the potential for permission-based engagement.
It’s obvious that most old-school businesses prefer ROI to be something measurable. Social networking is inherently hard to measure, so unlikely that they will jump in eagerly and say, “Go make a lot of friends! Start a group! Go engage those customers and start conversations with them! Be human!” It takes time to build relationships, and time is money. In standard advertising it’s easier to accept that you’re wasting some of your money on impressions that never pan out. Heck, 1% return is success!
What’s in a social network for business? It’s still growing, so there is no real consensus. But, the potential is amazing. Each relationship you start and maintain is another potential “fan” who may then pass on your message for you, without asking for payment. (Good read: Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae) This is the holy grail of marketing: Word of Mouth. How do you start it? My advice: be genuine, be honest and take the time to talk to people who WANT to hear your message. That is time well spent. Another good idea is to check out Federated Media’s Summit on Conversational Marketing. The one I attended is online for viewing.
But how to apply this to Facebook? Well, I see some trade magazines getting on Facebook now. Some of them simply announce their new issue. OK. Others started groups for the rag and announce only contests. OK. Standard fare - expected use of the medium.
Other ideas for magazines:
• Post about your most interesting content. Draw people to your site with a call to action. And give them the payoff you promise (and they deserve) when they arrive.
• Ask your fans (who deliberately signed up!) what they want from you. Listen. Do it.
• Examine the possibilities for applications within Facebook. If you have a cool idea, hire someone to write it. The best way to learn is to do something, even if it doesn’t work the first time.
• Think about writing good ads for Facebook for contextual advertising. You will gain more “fans” this way.
Benefits: You will increase your impressions, and you’ll have more to sell to advertisers. You’ll have more people looking to you for the information they desire, and they will feel like they were part of the process, have some feelings of ownership, and may feel inclined to talk to others about it.
Other business contacts I have don’t say peep about work. No problem - it’s your choice. Life is what you make it, and there is no rulebook. In addition, some have related to me that they know people that maintain two Facebook accounts - one personal/family and one for business.
CONCLUSION:
I propose that everyone try a one-life approach. I bet the fears that lie behind disclosing that you have a complete life, many interests, and dimensions beyond the compartments into which we typically (laugh, there is no typical), slot things are founded on self-distrust.
You may find that people:
• Will talk to you about other things than the weather, sports and the sales forecast
• Enjoy knowing that you like who you are
• Will automatically weed themselves out if they don’t like something, saving you time and energy for people that do appreciate it
Plus, as some in the marketing biz say when out of space…. “and much, much more!”
If it doesn’t work out or you don’t find new insights, you can always change back. I am enjoying it :)
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September 12th, 2008 @ 12:22 pm
My friend Craig shared this link to NYtimes on Facebook:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html?ex=1378699200&en=fb7d6d0f4642b529&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
October 29th, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
[...] for another round of insights, since it’s been a while since I’ve weighed in on this and lots has happened [...]
December 3rd, 2008 @ 12:22 am
[...] in interesting ways. I guess it all started with a musing, and then I wrote twice about Facebook (1, 2) and how much people choose to share while social networking. I’ve cracked some shells [...]