Sunday, November 8, 2009

Figuring Out Facebook

All right, so I've got a handle on the whole twitter thing.  Clearly it'd be a whole lot more fun if I was tweeting throughout the day instead of just at random moments when I happen to be home and online. I see how some folks use it for promotion, some for communication, and others (such as moi) just for venting random off-the-cuff thoughts. And in my case it is probably better that I can't tweet throughout the day while I'm at work because remember - I work in retail.  Uhunh, it's like that.

So I thought my next foray into the world of social networks should be Facebook.  I took a few baby steps - putting up a very minimal profile and sending out a few friend requests.  And then quickly realized what an idjit I was when the sparse amount of personal info I provided and lack of photo meant that some of my actual friends didn't know who I was! Problem quickly solved.

I also realized something else.  Perhaps it is because there was recently a reunion (which I did not attend) but very quickly after I added more details and a photo to my profile I started receiving friend requests from old high school classmates.  Some of these make sense, people who were actually friends during high school and it's nice to hear from them.  But others puzzle me. If you weren't my friend then, why would you want to be my "friend" now?  I mean, if you went through four years of school without ever saying one single word to me - why on earth would you even consider it? I truly do not understand.

One other discovery - a surprising number of the people who live in my tiny town on this tiny island are also on Facebook.  And this presents me with a bit of a quandary.  You see, my blog, my participation on Ravelry, other activities only started when I dropped out of the the working world and my old routine to go back to school. And out there on the interwebs I get to be myself and that is a wonderful thing. I am "Kath" and I am "just26miles" and I like those people. 

But I have another life also, a life away from the interwebs and while there is some crossover, I can count those people on the fingers of one hand and I know they understand the challenge I am facing now.  And if you lived in a town that was less than three square miles and located on an island, you might also understand the need to find a little corner in which to safely fly one's freak flag while still maintaining a more....ahem..."proper" image. (Thank you blog! Thank you Ravelry!) In this town, just about anyone I cross paths with at any moment is a potential employer or a link to a potential employer. Truly. So as I hunt for a full-time job again, I am aware of the need to present some sort of professional appearance. Facebook seems like a good place for that so I think that's how I'm going to use it.

Which is not to say that I don't want to see you there! I most definitely do want to know if some of my blogging friends could also be Facebook friends. If you're out there - let me know! I just don't want the traffic to flow in the other direction so I did not add my blog or Ravelry name. It's not a perfect solution, and I'm still thinking through how to manage this, but it's a start.

5 comments:

SeattleAmy said...

I have 2 facebook pages. One for anyone dealing with a work/business world.

The other is my personal/knitting peeps!

Once I split it up, it became VERY apparent that I really didn't have anything to really say to the non personal/knitting peeps. So I rarely login to that account and update/check people out. Sort of makes me wonder why I have the account at all!

I would also recommend using LinkedIn for business contacts where recommendations can be included. It's a pretty standard tool for that.

Mia said...

This was SUCH a good post! I've just been checking out the facebook a little myself and you're right.. EVERYone is one there. Not sure if that's a good thing or not.

PS, sophie says hi *grin*

::still laughing over the letting your freak flag fly part - I did that this weekend hehehe:::
mia

Pat said...

I'm on facebook too and you are welcome to friend me if you care to. I won't hold a grudge if you don't. Most of my friends there are work related but in my business we're a kinda sorta sometimes anyway one big family. I ignore friend requests from my former students, my big boss, and random friends from high school.

Logan said...

I am hither: http://www.facebook.com/youhavegottobekidding

I don't know how much you'll be able to see, I think my profile is extremely private.

By the way, you've inspired me to go and delete some people from my friends list. : )

Anonymous said...

I swear, I would totally friend you on Facebook. You know, if I actually ever logged into the darn thing. ;p I just can't get involved in it, you know? Now, blogs & ravelry? That stuff is addictive! LOL.