Things To Do on Facebook

August 27, 2007 · Comments

Let’s pretend someone has convinced you to join Facebook. You play along, and at least register for an account. Now what? Whether you’re a business looking to represent yourself inside of Facebook or an individual looking to tap into Facebook for its rich social interactions, here’s a quick list of things to go do.

  • Put a decent profile picture on there. NOT a professional photo. God, those look like school photos.

  • Fill out your interests a bit. (I have a hack here: I killed most of the personal info, so that the “Wall” and other apps wasn’t a mile down the page. How do YOU do it?)
  • Add a few useful apps. I’ve added Flickr, Upcoming, Lijit, Blog Friends, Video, Google Reader, Email Me Instead, and a few more.
  • Avoid not-so-useful apps (Unless they’re your thing), like zombies, fishbowls, graffiti, etc.
  • Add friends. Facebook’s nicer if you have people to interact with.
  • Join a few groups. See if you can contribute.
  • Update your status message periodically. (This is Facebook’s hint to get you to come back often).
  • Explore. Why be in a social network if you can’t see what you don’t know?
  • Relax with a nice game of Scrabulous (Scrabble). You can’t live by work alone, can you?

As a business person, the return on the time spent isn’t immediately obvious. The truth is, the return doesn’t come right away. It’s more a networking effect. You get to know people. You get to appreciate people. And eventually, some day, someone will be in need of something you know, or you’ll need something from someone else, and through the cultivation of the relationships you’ve built through Facebook, someone will know this and the transaction will happen.

But it’s not a set-up-and-forget application. It’s not something to go and push around like a Brussels sprout. It’s a breathing “social sculpture,” as my friend, Geo would call it. And you’re invited to participate, or sit out a vibrant conversation between millions of engaged people.

What do YOU do on Facebook?

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  • I think you're spot on with this post. I joined because family members were joining but I find an increasing number of my global market contacts are joining. It doesn't take long to do one or two things each day but it just maintains the contact with others.
  • Facebook is an active social network - as opposed to a passive one like LinkedIn. Both have their place, IMHO.

    In a recent post, I also suggested that the biggest difference between Facebook and MySpace is:
    MySpace = my space
    Facebook = our space

    In both cases (vs. LinkedIn & vs. MySpace) it's all in how you use it.

    As far as keeping the wall near the top? Profiles can be rearranged by dragging and dropping. I have my personal/contact/work info below my wall and mini-feed.
  • @Barry - you've got that right. Finding the business application of this while also connecting to family is definitely a win.

    @Colin- Interesting split between how you use MySpace and Facebook. Interesting. I like that idea. My friends who swear by MySpace say it's still the best place for bands and a pretty good place for comics.

    Why the contacts below the wall? Just curious.
  • Um, actually, I guess it's the 'Information' box that's below the wall (it contains Contact Info and Personal Info). It's at the bottom for two reasons 1) it changes the least often
    2) my friends are most likely to already know
  • eve
    Excellent post. I will admit my profile is filled with useless things that I like to test with. The one app that I think everybody should add though is the Web Presence application. It allows you to list where else you are on the web - like linkedin.
  • @eve - have you checked out the Lijit application? It's like the web presence app, but adds a few interesting things. Also check out their website, of check it in action at [chrisbrogan.com] in the sidebar. : )
  • amanda
    I finally broke down and joined facebook...and its the neatest thing, I now have a way to contact family members and friendships I had let lapse and lost contact with....so for me, facebook has been awesome!
  • I've found LinkedIn and Facebook to be quite complimentary.

    More and more LI users are dabbling with FB to see what the excitement is all about and/or like me, to see what our kids are up to.


    I'm not talking about the technical crowd, but the rest of us who find LI useful for business or career development but don't think much about the evolution of the web and all the exciting developments that are empowering all of us in unimaginable ways.

    Many are joining business-oriented groups where they get to know some of the other members -- and where they meet some of the same folks they are meeting on LinkedIn. LI "Contacts" become FB "Friends" . . . and vice versa.

    Perhaps they'll go back to LI to read a profile, check out a resume, see who people are connected to, or to communicate directly with others who are not yet their FB Friends.

    Before long, they'll figure out how to export their LinkedIn contacts to Facebook . . . and, in some awkward, inelegant way the two platforms will begin to merge. Soon the programmers will have neat systems that automatically sync and link the two . . . and then tie in other social networks into one giant web of relationships.

    What is the world coming to? We won't have to wait long to see.
  • Boozemail of course - come on :)
  • Some excellent ideas on how to use Facebook. I like that you take the stance of using Facebook as a business person. I feel there has been a lot of debate out there recently regarding Facebook as a "serious" networking tool and that people need to decide if either they are Facebook users or LinkedIn users. I feel that being that social networking is still young and with the way these sites are setup there is a place for both of them.
  • how about adding twitter to facebook, so it automatically updates your status?

    also, adding some sort of RSS app is amazing for spreading the word on your content.
  • Chris:

    You started off with "let's pretend you've been invited to be a part of Facebook." Actually, I've been invited like two or three times but so far I've resisted, just like I resisted Twitter (which I'm now a part of, obviously).

    Thanks for the write up on this - I put on my "to-do list" to join Facebook and give it a whirl. I know that as a business person, the results might not be what I hope them to be but like I've begun to do with Twitter and StumbleUpon (the only other two social media networks I belong to at the moment), I'm in the process of developing relationships - getting to know people. It takes time but I think and hope it'll be worthwhile.
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