A few weeks ago I posted this question on LinkedIn for discussion, “Is Facebook for Business?” The business benefits from LinkedIn are obvious and I can see the merits of Twitter, but it’s more difficult to see how Facebook falls into the business picture. On Facebook, you can have both a personal page and a business page – and I like that separation. However, business colleagues keep finding my personal page. So I keep wondering, do I mix business with pleasure?
Since I’ve struggled with these questions for some time now, I was curious to see how other business professionals were using Facebook. And frankly, I was not surprised to receive mixed results. With some people it was black and white and they gave responses such as:
“LinkedIn is for business. Facebook is more social than professional.”
“Facebook is only for keeping in touch with classmates and friends.”
Others were a bit more flexible with replies like:
“It matters what business you’re in.”
“Not all businesses are a good fit.”
I was pleased to see the majority felt that you could use Facebook for both business and pleasure and many responded that you shouldn’t worry so much about separating the two. Their responses were more along these lines:
“We tend to do business with people that we have a relationship with.”
“Facebook has helped me to build more personal relationships with people I do business with.”
The idea here is that you can re-connect with old friends and classmates as well as build stronger relationships with business colleagues. Facebook is definitely on a more personal level, but you never know where your next business deal will come from.
As for me, I’ve decided to give Facebook a try.
I created a business page:
And I have connected with some friends I haven’t seen in over 20 years! Wow! What a great feeling! Perhaps that’s what social media is all about.
Please click on the Facebook image above and become a fan!
Thanks!