facebook and social networking

[lilith]

Is anyone here (or their place of employment) using facebook or any other social networking site for business? I'm really curious how they're using them and if they think they are worthwhile or not....

[garm]

linked in - that's about it for business.

Sometimes, if I have time, I will check facebook out to see if I am hiring a somewhat sane person. :)

[chrol]

Now here's an interesting question for employers - if you've got your profile completely private and your potential employer tries to add you as a friend to view your profile but you ignore the request... does this raise or lower your chances of being hired? And would the employer admit that as being a determining factor, you think?

Brings the whole "friending" thing to a whole new level of intensity. People get so offended when you don't accept their friend requests, it's ridiculous...

[garm]

Although I don't use facebook much - none of my employees are on it. I've always refused their requests and have not searched through their facebook accounts.

That's their personal life and I leave it there. For those that I am hiring - I don't know them and might as well have a quick look to see.

[Dr. Death]

Researching potential employees is one thing, but I think Lilith was asking about using them to promote your business, such as networking with associates, getting a business page up, etc.

I put a page up for my business, but quite frankly, I think there are more important things that can be done, and as a result, I spend very little time on it.

1. Put out a GOOD company web site, and work on the SEO of that.
2. Keep the site up with fresh content (a blog or articles posted on your site are worth more than Facebook blobs, IMO.)
3. Frequent message boards and network with other professional sites with mission statements that relate to your profession or line of work.

If you really work at and keep up those things, you probably won't have time for Facebook.

[lilith]

Right DD! I was wondering if anyone was using any of those sights to promote their business. I work with college students and some studies show that more than 80% of them check their facebook every single day. It's a matter of going where your clients are.... I've created two types of pages. One for the students and one for networking. Both sites have attracted a lot of "friends" but now that I've collected them all, I'm not quite sure what to do with them. :p I was looking for ideas.

Chrol, there have been a lot of articles written about facebook and employers. I don't think not accepting a friend request from a potential employer should raise questions about you. You could simply say you don't go there that often so you didn't see it. I do think that if your whole page talks about sex, drugs, violence, crimes and gangsta music, and you accept their friendship you might have a problem. I suppose even political or religious views could get you in trouble. I've also read of at least one case where someone kept posting how bored they were at work etc. and got fired. Go figure... :p

I've friended several of the kids who work for me. I just put them on hidden if I don't like the stuff they are posting that would end up on my wall. No one has posted anything that would change my opinion of them personally. (I love them all.) If anything it's made me feel closer to them. And, I judge their work on how they behave at work, not by their facebook pages. But, that's just me... other employers may view it differently.

[Dr. Death]

It's a matter of going where your clients are.... I've created two types of pages. One for the students and one for networking. Both sites have attracted a lot of "friends" but now that I've collected them all, I'm not quite sure what to do with them. I was looking for ideas.

I guess you have to determine what your goals are. What would move you forward in your career. For me, as a sole proprietor of a business, it's finding more clients. (and maybe a healthy buyout offer so I can retire to St. Thomas!) :D

For me, doing that right now is simply doing the best job for each client and letting word of mouth be my advertising. Sure, I can network with peers and perhaps write blog posts or articles that may or may not impress someone, but that's a long shot.

For someone who is working for a company, is the goal to move up within the company? Or is it to move to another company and a better position? In each case, networking is the key. But I think the key is serious networking, and not the kind of drivel I see posted on Facebook. Potential employers don't care what you thought of the latest LOL cats video or what your score on Mobsters 2 is.

So I guess if you're going to use Facebook for serious networking, get all the crap off your wall and start making some serious, business-related posts (and bore your friends to tears.) :p