Surface Ripples

Facebook Faux-Pas

Many of us are Facebook users; we use it to keep in touch with friends and hear their news as well as to promote our business.  

Facebook has evolved over the years for better and for worse.  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 minor (to me) news.  Then of course, there’s the continuous bombardment of advertising…

One thing that Facebook has been useful for is to show me how some people use it as a tool for self-promotion (lots of pictures of themselves and/or the wonderful life, location, partner or activity they happen to be enjoying).  

Sometimes they “react” (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.   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 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 salutary experience.   

Something else Facebook does for us is remind us of our friends’ birthdays (if they’ve allowed that information to be viewed).  As an experiment, I set my birthday to be visible only to myself.  Result: hardly any 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 suitably humorous picture attached to make it personal. 

Employers these days may conduct Facebook and LinkedIn searches on potential employees.  Some actually ask for candidates’ usernames and passwords (that’s the time to leave).  This is the same as asking to read someone’s bank statements.  Peoples’ private lives are just that (private).  Staff have been fired (or not hired) for posting what others deem inappropriate or “offensive” comments or pictures, so beware!  It’s too easy to forget once you’ve posted something that it’s “out there” in the public domain.  

Facebook is a friend and a foe.  My main concern is that it “de-humanises” the personal interaction between people in general by making it too easy to “like”, wish Happy Birthday, etc with a simple click.  Equally it makes it too easy to air in a very public forum views which you might not express face-to-face 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've 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.

Labels: Leisure, Social, Strategy

posted by William Martin @ 09:54