Facebook: Friend or Foe?
Many of us are
Facebook members and, if you're anything like me, you use it mainly to keep in
touch with friends and hear their news.
Facebook has evolved over the years, at times for the
better, at others for worse. I find
that, if I’m not careful, I end up spending too much time on it. Often, this is on weeding out posts telling
me that my friends “liked” or “reacted” to something, or that they’re now
friends with someone or use Instagram, or some other piece of equally
irrelevant (to me) news.
One
thing that Facebook has been useful
for is to show me how some people use it, e.g. as a tool for self-promotion
(lots of pictures of themselves and/or the wonderful life/partner/activity they
enjoy).
Sometimes
they “react” (usually with an “angry” emoticon ) to posts from those who delight
in reviling others or in spreading hatred, false news or any other number of
distasteful pastimes. Thanks to this, I’ve seen more “angry” people
on Facebook than I’ve encountered in my lifetime, mainly because Facebook’s
comparative “anonymity” gives them a platform to say things that they would
never dare say to someone’s face.
I
recently went through an exercise in which I “unfriended” or “unfollowed” a
number of people whom I like, but from whom I hadn't heard in ages (although I
saw plenty of self-promoting posts). It
was a sad experience.
Something
else Facebook does for us is remind us of our friends’ birthdays (if they’ve
allowed that information to be viewed by their other friends). As an experiment this year, I allowed my
birthday to be visible only to myself.
Result: no birthday wishes and less time on Facebook. I keep a diary note of the birth dates of
those to whom I want to send birthday greetings and do it by email with a
suitable picture attached to make it personal.
Employers
these days are highly likely to conduct a Facebook and LinkedIn search of
potential employees. Some actually go as
far as to ask for candidates’ usernames and passwords (that’s the time to
leave). People have been fired (or not hired) for posting what others deem
inappropriate or “offensive” comments, so beware! It’s too easy to forget once you’ve posted
something that it’s “out there” in the public domain. Personally, I feel that this is the same as
asking to read someone’s bank statements.
Peoples’ private lives are just that (private).
Facebook
is a friend and a foe for me. My main
concern is that it “de-humanises” the personal interaction between genuine
friends and/or people in general by making it too easy to “like”, wish Happy
Birthday, etc with a simple tap on a screen.
Equally it makes it too easy to air views which you might not air
face-to-face in a very public forum with little chance of “taking them back”
once they’re “out there”.
In a
world where interpersonal skills continue to be at a premium, one can't help
but wonder how much value is added by Facebook…
How do you use it to add value to your “brand”?
I have spent more than half my life
delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to
“emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial
services around the world running different operations and lending businesses,
I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance,
productivity and risk management. I work
with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic
institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and
fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of
services. For strategic questions that
you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
posted by William Martin @ 13:38
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