Last May I asked the question, is social media madness? The culture of openness can be perplexing, but whether or not you think social media is madness, there's no denying its growth. And social media's potential for marketing is profound (which is why a 15 billion dollar valuation for Facebook is not entirely absurd). Missing from last May's newsletter was a review of Facebook. While MySpace still has a lead in terms of overall users, Facebook is catching up quickly. According to ComScore, from 2006 to 2007 Facebook's growth rate was 270% compared to MySpace at 72%.
Posts about Facebook's recent controversial announcements about a new advertising platform are all over the new media blogosphere. The advertising model for social media is tricky, and while it's way too early to declare a winner in this space, the last man standing may become even more powerful than Google.
Whether you're inclined to create a Facebook profile or not, understanding how Facebook works and how social media marketing is developing is important for agencies.
Why Facebook?
I sympathize with those who don't get Facebook and other social media sites like MySpace and LinkedIn. In fact, when I first set up my Facebook profile, it was more motivated by professional experimentation than a real desire to participate. But I have to admit it. Now that I've grown more comfortable with Facebook, I've genuinely enjoyed connecting with old friends and learning more about my business associates. I enjoy learning about the things my friends and acquaintances are doing, reading, and listening to. I've found it fascinating to get new perspectives on long time business acquaintances. I was also able to say hey to a few friends I hadn't heard from in a while and reconnect with a some folks I knew in school.
One of the main features of a Facebook profile is the "Friends" panel. It displays six of my Facebook friends with a link to view them all. So as not to create any awkward jockeying for friend ranking (remember Sienfeld's speed dial position episode?), the six friend images are randomly sampled from all my friends each time I view the page. This considerate little feature reminds me of people I might not normally think about--and if I'm so inclined, I can jot a quick "Hey--how are you?" on their wall. Another prominent feature of Facebook is its News Feed page. It tells you whenever a friend adds another friend, or joins a new group, or posts a link, or adds a new application, or updates their profile, or changes their status, or just about anything else they do on Facebook. In a silly way, because of features like this, I really do feel a little more connected to my friends on Facebook.
Based on my initial positive experience on Facebook, I decided to jump in with both feet. I've been adding more and more details to my profile. I've even added Facebook applications that pull information from my blogs, del.icio.us links, and StumbleUpon pages. My Twitter feed is set up to automatically update my Facebook status. Of course, my profile wouldn't be complete without adding in the "New England Patriots Fans" app--Go Pats! There are a lot more things that can be done on Facebook like joining groups and networks, creating events, buying stuff, and looking at my friend's photos and videos.
If you'd like to get more detail on what Facebook looks like, I've taken screen grabs of my Facebook News Feed and Profile pages. But the best way to familiarize yourself is to just set up a profile and start using it. If you already have a Facebook profile, or are inclined to set one up now, feel free to add me as a friend (please include Web Smart subscriber in the personal message field when you add me as a friend).
Cisco has been using Facebook in an interesting way: http://www.facebookobserver.com/facebook-for-business/how-a-fortune-500-should-use-facebook/
Facebook is a great medium but i'm not sure if it's ready to be taken over for corporate self promotion yet.
It destroys the purpose of Facebook to fill it up with business it's meant for individuals, if these trends carry on it will self implode and people just wont visit anymore.
facebook is suppose to connect you to your friends. it can come in handy by colleges and businesses can find you and interview you and you can get a job or go to college.
It can also work negatively to ruin a career if people expose too much of their habits, interests etc. Not too many employers are going to hire or keep you on if they see your facebook page full of photos of you smoking dope with your buds or puking on the sidewalk because you were so wasted all weekend.
Based on the way you use it facebook can be very useful or very harmful. You should learn to control the information you post, the pictures you post, and any possible self-damaging wall posts! I'm sure you wouldn't think of it in a bad mood, but anything you say is recorded, basically until facebook crashes.
So be responsible and there are many benefits to social networking! Many new opportunities!
I do think most of people are favoring in Facebook, each member of of my family has a account and we love to use it to cotact to each other.