Anyone who follows me on Facebook knows that I whine and complain about it all the time. It rarely does what I want it to. The apps work periodically, but mostly, not at all. And, clicking links in Facebook often freezes my system.
That said, I have become a convert. Donna (who writes for this blog, you may realize) is working with us to create some Facebook fan pages and so far we have one for the petblog - Scratchings and Sniffings, which is fabulous! I'm having so much fun with it. I did not expect to have fun with it. But, fun I am having.
Today I uploaded some pictures of Carmie (my beloved dog who passed away a year ago - and no, I'm not over it, yet) and of the resident Queen Kitty here, Wabby Wibby. I'm surprised by the number of fans we already have and I hope you'll hop over and consider fanning us, too. (that sounds strange, as if you should be cooling us off with a fan...hmmm...what I mean is please consider becoming a fan of the Scratchings & Sniffings fan page.)
This article, which Donna shared with me, shows that Facebook really is a useful and successful way to "drive repeat visitors" to a website or blog, or twitter, I suppose. And, I have fanned a few sites - like Dove chocolate (yum!) as well as Best Buy. My goal there is to get coupons and sweepstakes notices and updates on what's new and exciting with those brands.
Facebook gets a lot of press - you may have noticed their new design and trash talk from users, which I agree with. But, for me, right now, Facebook is useful as a tool to keep me updated. I'm connected to more women than men and that does not include my family which is dominated by the tender sex. It's that I use Facebook for information gathering and connecting and staying on top of life (both business and personal). For me, women provide that information better than anyone else.
Don't get me wrong. There are a good number of men I am friends with, including Tom and my son, Don. They are smart men. They are approachable. They are giving and trusting. I am lucky to know them. Just the other day I was having lunch with a girl friend and we discussed the fact that everything we do - wherever we do it - is based on our people needs, not necessarily on our gender needs. In the end, men and women need each other. So, I applaud the men in my world.
But, I still pay more attention to my women friends and what they say or recommend. For that, I will admit Facebook has been useful. Now, with my new petblog fanpage, and the excitement of knowing I can do a LOT of things with it (hold sweepstakes, give away gifts, have contests, post videos)...makes me appreciate Facebook more than I have in the past.
If you are not using Facebook - at least as a place to connect to colleagues and industry experts, I recommend you fix that today. Facebook is not going away. Social media tools, like Facebook, will be with us for a long, long time. They will change and morph and become whatever WE need them to be, because they are, truly, consumer generated content at its best, and their presence in business has become ubiquitous. Ignore them at your peril.
I suggest you be a part of the change you want to see - let social media, ala Facebook as a start - guide you.
That's my thought of the day. I'm going back to my fan page and play around some more. (Thank you for showing me this side of Facebook, Donna!)
@carol - indeed, the changes that come (unbidden, I think) make me crazy, too. I have come to learn to relax and take it in stride.
@Pixie - you are too funny! I was 'stalking' my grown children, too...till they started stalking back! Now, I'm careful when I go to their pages b/c I sometimes find things I ... am less than enamoured of! But, children will be who and what they are.
Posted by: Yvonne DiVita | October 31, 2009 at 12:07 PM
Facebook is a fun place to be. Originally my husband and I joined Facebook to stalk our adult children who are spread out all over the world. Now I use it to stay connected with friends and have two fan pages, one for my massage therapy practice and one for my coaching practice. It's more about sharing and supporting others for me. Thanks for the post.
Posted by: Pixie Stevenson | October 31, 2009 at 09:58 AM
what drives me crazy is when they arrange and rearrange and yet another arranging.. again and again, over and over! I wish they will at least give it a rest even for a while before they begin another round of "home cleaning".
other than that, they really drive viewers to your site with every update. great post! :)
Posted by: carol | October 31, 2009 at 09:46 AM
Hi Dr. Wright, this is exactly what I was hoping for - honest feedback on how other people look at and use Facebook.
Thank you for your comment. To the "fan" issue...it's really nothing more than asking if you'll join my group of pet fans, just the same as you asking me to sign up for your newsletter. You would deliver me good, relevant content via the newsletter, and on my Facebook 'fan' page, I will do the same.
It's for people interested in pets, obviously. I don't expect anyone who is not a pet lover to 'fan' the page.
Honestly, I didn't get it for the longest time, until I began to 'fan' a few brands I like and I realized I was now in the inner circle where I would get the best deals, before the general public.
Does that help?
Posted by: Yvonne DiVita | October 30, 2009 at 09:41 AM
I am on facebook, because I should be. Its not a real contact for personal friends ( good lord if you have to email me then we are not friends) and never seems to work much for me either.
Also I am slightly offended about asking do I wan tto be a fan of someone. I dont get that at all.
Dr. Letitia Wright
The Wright Place TV Show
http://wrightplacetv.com
www.twitter.com/drwright1
Posted by: Dr Wright | October 30, 2009 at 09:25 AM