Kicking & Screaming all the Way to Facebook

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia

It's bedtime, but little Caleb wants a story. And after the story, he needs to pee. Then, he needs a glass of water. And, then he wants you to leave the light on. And, then he wants a kiss goodnight. And, then...and, then...and, then.

He knows it's time for bed. He's sleepy as a cat. He knows sleep is unavoidable and yet he keeps holding onto that one last minute of being awake. The above scenario usually ends up with Caleb falling into some sort of crying/whining jag and then eventually passing out in sleep from sheer exhaustion.

If you've ever been around little children, you've experienced this interesting nightly phenomena called "fighting sleep".

Similarly, I'm always amazed at how people attempt to justify not using social networking and social media. They will go to great pains and lengths to do so and in the end, the wind up sounding...well, like Caleb.

I mean, if you don't want to use social networking for your business, just have the guts to say,

"I know it's probably a good thing for business, but I just can't/won't/don't wanna deal with it right now. It might bite me in the butt, but that's a trade-off I'm prepared to make."

You don't have to go all around the barn with some ridiculous, patch-worked excuse. Here's where I'm coming from with all this...

I spoke at an invite-only conference a few weeks ago and one of the attendees was feebly trying to make a case for not using Facebook although she knows it's a beeline to her target market.

Her reasoning was that she travels a lot and therefore isn't in front of her laptop or desktop computer often so the messages come to her Blackberry. She lamented that each time Facebook sent you a notification message, you had to log in to Facebook to read and/or deal with the message. And, the screen on her Blackberry was so small, she couldn't log in and...*breathe*

You could tell this was causing her great pain. She said that she had summarily dismissed using Faceobok altogether because of this "inconvenience". She said she would reconsider using Facebook if they changed this. Ha!

But, instead of realizing that this is just how it is and that the need to connect with her market far outweighed the need to change Facebook's operational model, she would rather go on and on about how unfair it all is. Eventually she'll probably meet the same fate as Caleb, she'll have to "collapse" and use Facebook. Or, if she's just that stubborn, she won't.

My thought is why not dispense with the kicking and screaming and get down to business? You know that's where you'll end up anyway. But, I guess some people have to exhaust themselves with all manner of excuses first. *sigh* Ok, I'll wait...

P.S. Because she clearly had no clue at all, I didn't DARE embarrass her further by letting her know that there's a free Facebook mobile application for the Blackberry.

Comments

[Lena L. West]

Dear Primary Work at Home

Ohhh, don't get me started on "separating" personal from business on Facebook.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

[Primary Work at Home]

Facebook is created for networking and connecting to friends and I think it is normal to update it in your own way. I have facebook for personal friends and business so that I can separate personal side from business side.

[Yvonne DiVita]

@Diane, you touched a nerve with me. I am one of those people who dislike Facebook. I like the idea and the idea of the technology. But, it works part of the time and not the rest of the time and I spend too much time trying to do the "easy as pie" things it's known to help people with (like adding friends and family).

Learning any new technology comes with a learning curve, but Facebook seems to think that just when you have it down pat, it's time to change. I'm there. I like connecting. I find it useful. But, I really wish it was more user-friendly. Maybe I'm asking for too much, as it's a large, complicated tool and the programmers are likely doing the best they can.

But, I wouldn't cry if it went away tomorrow.

[Lena L. West]

@Diane:

Here, here, Diane! Great analogy :)

Thanks for reading and commenting - as always!

[Diane Danielson/CEO, Downtown Women's Club]

Once again, you nail it. And not just because you so accurately described many a bed-time in my house. I tend to view those who have extreme distaste for facebook or twitter a bit like the stereotypical American Tourists who visit foreign countries expecting the locals to adapt to speaking English, as well as other American notions and ideals, all the while viewing everything through an American filter. While that might get you some nice pics of the Eiffel tower, you'll never really get a taste for Paris until you relax, sit in a cafe and acknowledge that sometimes a foreign language can make something like pate de foie gras sound so tempting that you just want to try it. So when it comes to social networking holdouts, they should try to put their pre-conceived notions aside for an afternoon and mix with the locals. Especially if the locals are their target market!

[Lena L. West]

@Jenny

The balance is different for everyone and greatly depends on your business goals. There is no "one size fits all, insert formula here".

A good place to start is to try doing the opposite of the behavior you don't like to experience on Facebook - if that meets your business goals.

So, if you're turned off by people who only talk business on Facebook, but you know you don't want to use it for all personal talk - then try a 50/50 mix to see if that works for you.

Keep trying until you land on a formula that feels right. Trust me, you will.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

[Jenny Peterson]

I started on Facebook last year as a way to connect with old friends. It's been great fun, but now that I've begun using social media to connect to my business, I'm unsure how to use Facebook. I occasionally post a link to my site, or some pics of current projects, but I've personally been turned off by friends who do nothing but talk about business or try to sign you up for a seminar or something. What's the balance?

[Lena L. West]

@Yvonne:

Well, I am known for telling it like it is :) Can't help it.

Wow, really? I had no idea you felt that way about Facebook. That's interesting. I guess we all have our stuff. I used to feel that way about Twitter until I decided to make an experiment out of it and now it's fun to me.

I guess it's all in how you look at it!

Thanks for reading and commenting - always! :)

[Yvonne DiVita]

Oh Lena, you just don't pull any punches, do you? You are sort of describing me. I wail about Facebook all the time! But, I have been there for awhile, I use it and complain when it doesn't work, and have come to the conclusion that Facebook wasn't created "for me"... it was created for networking and connecting, and like many other tools I use, it's up to me to learn how to be effective with it. Not the other way around.