Why do people love….or hate Facebook?

My sister in Boston commented to me out of the blue a day ago about how she LOVES Facebook.  "I am reconnecting with so many people from college, lawschool, high school…It is great to reconnect, catch-up and see what people are doing!"  She adds "I would never have found the time to hunt them down through traditional means!"

Mind you, she is very busy…but for her technology enables her to quickly connect, share a few notes back and forth with people she cares about, but has not previously taken the time to call.    I find that people are also finding similar "efficient" connections with others on several other web-based tools…Linked-In is one heavily used by business people that I am also "connected on".

Yet, there are people who find Facebook (and similarly Twitter…another topic for another post) a waste of time….a means of "sitting on the computer wasting time, procrastinating the things that one should be doing".  There was an article to this point in Saturday's Minneapolis Star Tribune…called "Facebook Folly"  Here is the link!.

In the article the author compares Facebook to "moving into a huge shiny new house, then looking around a month later and realizing that you're spending all your free time cleaning it".

Well…if we want to procrastinate, let's face it, we all have plenty of things that can suck our time.  Like any new fun tool or hobby, of course!….yes, you could let yourself spend hours lost in all the possible fun and interesting things that Facebook offers.  However, WHY does the author not use the same self-discipline that she uses for non-techie things that can take her time and choose how to spend her time.

I had a colleague a few years ago who let email on his Crackberry suck him in similarly.  He told me one day that he was having trouble sleeping at night with his Blackberry pinging him, on his night stand, each time an email arrived.  Well for pity's sake (to quote another friend of mine)!!!  WHY would someone have a sound beep each time an email arrived?  AND WHY is the crackberry on his bedside????  Where was his self-control to take care of email when it was appropriate to do so and not when he should be sleeping?

So, don't blame technology….technology truly is enabling us to do MORE of want we want to do with efficient use of our time.  It is up to US….to learn how to use it.

So, try Facebook….it is really cool….more and more people are using it socially AND for their business connections….

No, it is not your teenager's tool….it IS for midlifers and frankly anyone!

AND If you want to learn more about social media,  our next "Big Picture" Teleseminar is NEXT Wednesday (1/21/09)…It is about The "Skinny" on Social Media. Click here to find out more or register!

Barb