I’ve been on Facebook for a few years now, but never really took to the site. I have email to keep in touch with friends, and my Blog lets me voice opinions. But then I saw the Facebook movie, “The Social Network”, and was friended on the site by my college age daughter. I learned I'd been using Facebook entirely wrong.
Facebook is intended as a social network, not a promotional network.
In the movie, college students rush like lemmings to use Facebook, primarily as a way to see who’s single. It’s not exactly a dating site, because only people you invite to be a friend have access to your details. That makes it exclusive to whoever you choose. (I know you can change privacy settings so the whole world can see your goodies, but you can also keep things tight and close.)
My daughter and her friends use it to keep in touch, organize activities, or find out when someone signs up for something fun. Pundits talk about the mob mentality, but I don't see that with my daughter and her friends. They make independent choices, then comment liberally on each other’s lives. They are connected as friends, and that’s it.
When I look at my Facebook wall, I don't see anything remotely social about it. It seems some of the more vocal people I've friended simply write about causes, events, and projects they want others to support. They use it as a promotional tool. That’s fine and dandy in small doses, but when it’s practically the only use? It’s not social at all.
For instance, on my daughter’s Facebook wall, I can learn about:
Where oh where are the single women who would love nothing more than a good guy like me to flirt and ask them out on a date? (Maybe we even flirt in real life after we both sign up for the same activity.)
I am thinking about changing the way I use Facebook. Rather than promotional networking, I want to start doing some social networking.
And so, it might be time for me to unfriend the people I don't know, have never met, and won't interact with socially. It’s time to remove connections to people who are promoting stuff I don't care about.
And it’s time to start expanding my social network by friending some interesting, fun people who I have the potential to meet in real life. Who knows, maybe we'll even go on a date.
First things first, I'll make sure my relationship status is appropriately set: single.
And if you're a Facebook social butterfly, feel free to give me some tips on how to best use the site.
Facebook is intended as a social network, not a promotional network.
In the movie, college students rush like lemmings to use Facebook, primarily as a way to see who’s single. It’s not exactly a dating site, because only people you invite to be a friend have access to your details. That makes it exclusive to whoever you choose. (I know you can change privacy settings so the whole world can see your goodies, but you can also keep things tight and close.)
My daughter and her friends use it to keep in touch, organize activities, or find out when someone signs up for something fun. Pundits talk about the mob mentality, but I don't see that with my daughter and her friends. They make independent choices, then comment liberally on each other’s lives. They are connected as friends, and that’s it.
When I look at my Facebook wall, I don't see anything remotely social about it. It seems some of the more vocal people I've friended simply write about causes, events, and projects they want others to support. They use it as a promotional tool. That’s fine and dandy in small doses, but when it’s practically the only use? It’s not social at all.
For instance, on my daughter’s Facebook wall, I can learn about:
- A college football game she and her friends attended
- A fun activity she did with her dorm
- A party she'll be attending later this month, that she and her friends are excited about
- Her friends delighting in each other’s lives
- Someone pimping a new tech product
- Someone twittering about what they drank tonight
- Plenty of bloggers announcing their latest post (mea culpa – I do that too)
- Someone promoting a book that just came out
Where oh where are the single women who would love nothing more than a good guy like me to flirt and ask them out on a date? (Maybe we even flirt in real life after we both sign up for the same activity.)
I am thinking about changing the way I use Facebook. Rather than promotional networking, I want to start doing some social networking.
And so, it might be time for me to unfriend the people I don't know, have never met, and won't interact with socially. It’s time to remove connections to people who are promoting stuff I don't care about.
And it’s time to start expanding my social network by friending some interesting, fun people who I have the potential to meet in real life. Who knows, maybe we'll even go on a date.
First things first, I'll make sure my relationship status is appropriately set: single.
And if you're a Facebook social butterfly, feel free to give me some tips on how to best use the site.
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