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I'm Bored with Facebook - But I don't want to be!

spam

I really wanna enjoy Facebook. I do enjoy the banter back and forth with friends, old & new. I like getting positive comments on my periodic postings of silly updates. I love posting pictures from high school and giving my old friends something to be nostalgic about. I love seeing real-world, non-profile pictures of my cyber-friends. I get a kick out of being tagged for quizzes, or in photos.

But that stuff is kind of hard to find among all the advertising disguised as updates. Just now I opened my Facebook page and found nothing but links to services, products and blogs I care nothing about. Links to real estate listings in cities I'll probably never visit. Invitations to events I haven't the faintest interest in.

Is Facebook spam taking the place of email spam? Used to be my Outlook Express inbox was a source of joy. I'd open it up and find a bunch of messages that actually related to my life. Then, slowly, the spam took over. Now, my email inbox overflows and I have to make quick judgments as to who I'm gonna open and read and who I'm going to delete unread.

I caution agents who communicate (read, advertise) via email to be VEDDY careful about overdoing their welcome in their friends' email boxes. The last thing you want is to train the people you know to delete your messages automatically because they've learned there's nothing of value there.

It seems the same would apply to Facebook. I'm getting up the nerve to delete the "friends" who fill up my front page with advertising, thus preventing me from enjoying the non-promotional postings of people I care about.

Is there an alternative to DELETE?

Thoughts?

jennifer allan www.SellwithSoul.com

Posted by Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn, Author of Sell with Soul on 08/13/2009 07:04 AM

Comments (122)

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Originally posted at: Selling Soulfully with Jennifer Allan: I'm Bored with Facebook - But I don't want to be!

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122 Comments on I'm Bored with Facebook - But I don't want to be!

AUG

2009

I have also lost the joy of facebook. I was just thinking that I needed 2 accounts the other day. One for all the spam updates and one for the friends. I so agree!

I agree too. I feel that sometimes I just spend my time hitting delete and ignore!

I agree with Laura, I need two accounts, one for family and friends and the other one for business. ..

I have worn the decal letters off of my delete key...

I only wished Facebook could let me "grade" my friends to a "care for" or "care less" categories. Most are too active are "business" people but then, I dont get to read about updates of friends.

See, I dont even see your updates on FB because some of my other friends are too active.

Friends do not spam friends., I guess the balance with Facebook is letting everyone know you are in the business with out hitting them over the head with that fact.

We tell the younger folks in the family m=not to post about the party they went too last night and how they got drunk. They donot realize employers look to these sites now. So you point about being careful is well taken

That's it exactly, Loreena! I hate to say "I don't care" about someone just because I don't know them... but it's the truth. Although I might be inclined to care about people who post interesting things, NOT incessant advertising!

I guess the definition of "friend" is pretty broad. And I don't want to imply that I'm not flattered at everyone who wants to be my friend! But it's gotten out of the hand to the point that for me, Facebook is pretty much a useless tool for either business or pleasure.

I also think that a lot of people don't realize what "spam" is - that the rest of the world probably doesn't care about listings or open houses in other cities, or in signing up for some affiliate-program or seminar on an irrelevant topic. There are better venues for such announcements than Facebook, aren't there?

there is a happy median when advertising on facebook. I update my status at least 3 times a day and more like 5-7 times a day. about 2 of those will be check out my newest blog. I try to do 2 blogs a day. On my updates I usually say I am showing houses to a new client, its a great time to buy!! or something like that. Not every update is real estate related but its what I think about a lot so most are real estate related. I don't send emails on Facebook especially spam messages. I use the email and im on fb to talk and not spam. Again there is a happy median when talking working on facebook.

Jennifer,

Interesting. I've thought about creating two accounts, one business and one personal, and maybe now is the time.

JA--If you're talking about the stuff that comes up on your FB home page, just "hide" them if you don't want to unfriend them. I've done this with a couple of "friends"...works like a charm. Just run your cursor over the top right corner of their update on your page and a "hide" button will appear. Click on it and their updates won't show up anymore, but they still remain in your "friend" list.

Richard - I've been advised to do the same. And I think I will. Not sure how to go about it, though! My problem is (and maybe others have the same one) is that so many of my "friends" are in the real estate industry and so I want to keep them there... but I don't necessarily recognize their names on a list. Unless they spam me a lot!

Kim - that's brilliant! I think more people should know about this so that they might be more careful with their posts! I didn't realize it was so easy - I thought I'd have to go through my list one by one and try to figure out who each person is... NOT something I'm in the mood to do.

But now if they show up on my homepage with garbage, they shall be HIDDEN! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

Okay, so I've been "hiding" people for the last ten minutes. And I'm only up to 9 hours ago on my homepage updates. This is great.

Hey Jennifer, I just hide those friends. Facebook is still a great place to catch up with old friends and meet more friends. I may post a new listing if it is special but 'one and done at least for the week. I respect the friendliness of facebook too much to crud it up into 'listing posts'. I do however get a kick out of reading other realtors on there making themselves look like the busiest realtor in the area. Makes me chuckle inside.

I am so glad you posted this...........I've got a lot of hiding to do also!

We should write on facebook the way we talk to people in a bar - we don't walk up to someone and say "Look at my listing", we comment on the weather or something vague.

Jennifer, I like Facebook a lot and also enjoy the banter back and forth. I think you bring up a good point. I try to not plaster people with real estate business and to just keep up with them. Good thoughts.

PROBLEM SOLVED! That Hide feature is great. I spent an hour hiding people who were posting nonsense and now my home page is ALL stuff I'm interested in! I might even find myself addicted to FB... egads!! Cain't believe how much I've been missin'

Check out my new listing in Dubai! I know you have a buyer ready to jump on it! Oops, too late. One of my Facebook friends just bought it. But I have another one in Brazil!

Good post, and I agree.

Jim Kimmons
Real Estate Guide at About.com

You got it. I have "hidden" 5 or 6 people on FB. A "marketing guru", a realtor and an auto broker wore me out with all of the updates telling me what I should be buying, subscribing to and so forth. I can relate to FB having not as much value as it did originally. I used to spend 30 minutes to and hour each day. Now I go down the news feed and maybe look at new pictures, once a day, if that.

Good post.

J: I remember when Craigslist first came out. It was this neat little place for private parties to connect with products and services.

NOW.....it is filled with businesses who are selling stuff and you can barely find the private parties.

While in the car business we had a nice little newspaper that private parties could advertise to other private paries when they wanted to sell their car. What happened? The dealers took it over.

It just seems to be the natural progression.

Facebook is becoming a business networking place. I guess the kids will soon move on to something else????

I love Facebook...but I've kept it to my "real" friends. I'm not using it for business at all. I know I lose potential clients this way...and I find my clients often ask to join my Facebook. But I have this only for me and my true friends....the joy is there. Not everything can be about business.

Hi Jennifer~ I know exactly what you mean..but I have found that by putting my friends into groups I can use the hide option when getting new friends, then drop them into a groups, like family, VA colleagues, Old Friends, RE Contacts etc..then I can view their updates by group. Its much more managebale and enjoyable too:)

I am honestly just beginning to have fun with Facebook and I can totally see what you are talking about...as I scroll down to see what my friends are up to a get all of the updates from Realtors about their lasted listings or posts and I simply pass over them. I have yet to write an update with a link to a listing or blog post and now I'm not sure I ever will. I too may delete some of my "Friends"

Jennifer, aren't you glad you wrote this post. You solved your problem. I only get the updates from people I want to see. I give everyone a real chance, but if they want to hammer their message to me several times a day without being real at anytime, I hide you and never see you again unless I want to rediscover you. I occassionally read my other feeds to see if I have been missing a good person. Same for Twitter but it's easier to hide those MLMr's......thanks.

There's a hide feature? Cool. I haven't used FB for business yet, but I would hate to have nothing but business updates all the time, or updates about stuff that I really couldn't care less about. Thanks for pointing out the flaws of having FB for business, and thank you to Kim, who suggested the hide feature!

Jennifer...

I have a love/hate relationship with FB. I don't like the hard-sells and the spamming, but love the ease of sharing pics with friends.

Speaking of which I really like your current profile pic!

Hi Jennifer and THANK YOU JENNIFER & KIM!!!

I had been looking at the facebook link on my computer and the that little "F" button on my iPhone with such trepidation! All these people I didn't know were asking me to be fans of things I know nothing about, while throwing beads at me and offering me drink after drink of virutal Mijitos. My friends got buried and I couldn't see their updates. It became like email - spam city. That "hide" button is the best!

On the other hand, this is a "virtual lesson" on how NOT to advertise on-line. If I have something interesting to offer - I post it. But I try never to post more than one blog link in a day - and I try to keep things about the area I live in - in focus...not blogs specifically.

Anyone out there try a business page yet? I see many debating two accounts.

Facebook allows us to set up a business page, and those that want those updates can get them.

Ken

in regards to Betty Hesaltine's comment: Yes absolutely right. In a bar people just don't come up and pitch their listings. This is what a lot of people on the internet have forgotten or never learned. You must be a trusted advisor. How do you do that? By providing relevant information, participating in conversations. It happens slowly, organically. Like in real life. Go figure.

One thing I've done that I haven't seen mentioned is creating a fb "fan" page which is where all my business "stuff" goes -- market updates, news, listings, etc. That way people who are really interested can become a fan of that page and follow what's going on with my business. Since people can visit a fan page without even being friends with someone, it also allows others to take a look. This way I'm not flooding people with information of which they have no interest.

I am also selective about adding friends. I see some people with hundreds, if not thousands of friends. They must be rock stars if they really know that many people. Sorry, but if I get a friend request from someone I don't know and they didn't even bother to include a message in their request of who they are, they get ignored. That also helps cut down on "spam."

Facebook has another option to help control some of the SPAM...you can click on 'Settings' at the top right side of your screen and change your 'Notifications'. Also, you can go to 'Settings' and 'Privacy' to control who can see what information. I hope that helps!

I've found that it might be better not to accept other REALTORS as friends, as many of them are all business in their comments !!! I get enuff MLS related e-mails that I don't wanna see them again on FB !!!!Can you say BORING !

Jennifer,

It's funny you mention this. In our weekly office meeting yesterday our team leader Kim told about one of the top real estate agents in the country (can't remember his name). He used Facebook for business and posted stuff like "out showing buyers" "going to listing appointment".

He decided to change tactics and just post social stuff instead like " just ate at a great restuarant". He found the social stuff got him MORE leads than the real estate stuuf had been bringing. An ah-ha moment for me!

I am struggling with Facebook too. Just setting up my Fan Page is a challenge. I am also not sure how it makes business sense.

You are right you have to be low key otherwise you will be out of your friends circle quickly

I get worn out with all of the vampire and mob wars invites. The send a drink is getting a bit overwhelming as well.

Jennifer,

I think a lot of people feel the same way. Did you know that you can block the majority of advertisements, game invitations, app requests, etc. under your settings options? It's somewhat tedious to scroll through and uncheck what you want to block, but it's well worth it!

-Evelyn

Hi Jennifer, I'm with you. I also worry about all this social networking taking up so much time. I've got to be really selective.

You are correct, Facebook is all about the advertising afterall it is a free service they have to make money somehow. I to don't like the fact the everytime I go to my facebook account one or two people have posted enough JUNK to cover my whole page that the people I really want to hear from are invisible.

A few things I have done to help are:

1) I don't accept any applications. One reason is it slows my computer down. The other is then everyone post them on my news feeds.

2) Anyone that post the results of a quiz, app or anything else, I block that app. This is done by going to the right side of the post and click the drop down. There is a choice to block that app. Yes, BLOCK the app not the person.

3) I have also greated a good friends list and added just those people I want to keep up with to it. That way I don't miss any of their posts. You can do this by going to the add friends tab. On the left hand margin, there is a lists section, at the bottom of that is a "create" button. Click that then go through your friends and add the ones you want to hear from.

Happy Selling

Peter

I just love DELETE.. it doesn't help if people spam... I just ignore their messages... so what is the point?

I've been reading a lot of articles about using twitter and FB for advertising. Those folks recommend no more than 3-5 posts per week and not all about work-related stuff!

I think the send me a flower, plant a tree, have a drink, etc on facebook are kinda silly. I like the reconnection with lost classmates, the abilty to embed video of the area for outside classmates and future customers to see thouse and the sheer numbers. 55 million or so is a good place to be if you don't harrass or flood those inboxes.

Good post, I have not used FB for business, but I do know several realtors that have been sucessful at it. I choose to keep my FB page for personal needs to keep up with friends (which has brought me business indirectly) I have found several networks serve me better for business. I guess I choose to seperate the two, besides I wouldn't want any of my friends to post anything embarrassing that a business contact may see. lol

I use FB for the social aspect, but I have gotten several business leads from my friends. I even have a few past customers on the friend list. Just this morning, one of my friends posted her status "Anyone know a good Realtor"? I commented on that status, "I'm a great Realtor. Give me a call." Within minutes, we sent a direct message to me with her phone number, then she called me a few minutes after that.

Jennifer,

FB has a "hide" feature. You can either hide people or programs. When you see an update (like mafia wars, networked blogs, etc) that you don't want to see, go over to the right hand side of that update. You will see a little arrow that pops up. Click on the arrow and it will give you a choice to hide that person, OR to hide the application. Then you will no longer see updates for applications that you don't want to! Email me if this doesn't make sense...

Also people need to be aware that FB is for personal use. You can have a business page attached to your profile, but they will delete accounts that appear to be totally business profiles. That's what business pages are for.

Jennifer, I have deleted a few facebook "friends" just for that reason. and you can choose to hide their posts as well.

And PLEASE people, dont send me cyber drinks, silly Mafia war crap, or cyber hugs. If you really want to talk to me, write on my wall, or send me a note in face book, I will ALWAYS ignore anything that requires me to click on it.

Too much about everything in life Jennifer seems centered around money, now Facebook. Does anyone NOT have an ulterior motive? I don't. That's why they think I am weird LOL.

Thanks for all the comments!! And... the gold star. Wanna hear something funny? I wrote this blog two weeks ago and almost deleted it because I was afraid I'd offend someone with the suggestion that I don't welcome everything that crosses my home page... But I couldn't think of anything else to post today, so I resurrected this... and I'm SO glad I did!!

Congrats on yet another Feature Jennifer! I hope you are haveing a great day

Hmmm. I think there's a separate blog post here somewhere on how to filter your FB updates and stop application notifications. Let's see who gets it posted first ; ) Great post Jennifer!

I have to completely agree with your here. In fact we were just talking about that the other day! I was doing a Brokers Open and I don't EVER send out mass emails unless its to something of value. I think that me giving away money to EVERY person that walks into my Brokers Open is definitely of value to i sent the mass email out. Well wouldnt you know that someone from another company who sends out hundreds of mass emails every week asked to be taken off my list. Now how inconsiderate is that? At first I read their emails but after about the 5th one of the week, I said forget it. Now I never asked to be taken off their list, I just delete them. But they send out Brokers Open, Price reductions, new listings, open Houses, & I put up with it.

Okay, Im done venting. Sorry. But as you can see, I completely agree with the spam. Not only does it get on our nerves, but it also gets on everyone elses nerves, so they probably dont even bother to read the good stuff since they are so annoyed with all the other junk they get every day. If poeple only sent out the minimal stuff to other realtors, then more Realtors might actually pay attention to their inbox and not just consider it spam!

We are in an active rain training class and we were asked to comment to your article. New to FACEBOOK and have not experienced the spam yet. But thanks for the warning.

Jennifer-

I have only been using facebook for a short while now, but I agree with you. And from all the other comments it sounds like we are not alone!

Francine

Jennifer - Interesting post. I am new to facebook and appreciate your comments,

Jennifer

Great comments, Facebook can be an important information source for clients about you and your services. I have people send me all types of stuff, it's a mystery to me I have two current Mafia wars going on.

Hi Jennifer

Another great post. By the way where did you find the guy with the spam outfit? He looks delicious. lol.

Great post Jennifer - and I so much appreciate all the good advice about how to manage FB. I got tired of going there - but now I have tools to use it. I was feeling the same way about Twitter, i.e., I'd like to separate personal from business. We need to take control back from the spammers.

I took a hint from a How To video on Facebook. I keep mine pretty much set on business. I do have old friends, but I stay away fro the quizzes and Mafia War stuff. Also, I am kind of selective on what I allow. It doesn't get rid of all the smap, but it keeps it way down.

I feel the same way! LOL And I really get tired of the "so and so sent you a drink" stuff - I am sure folks mean well, but seriously, I have a life where I get REAL drinks and I don't have the time for a fake life, too.

Hi Jennifer - If you're talking about the feeds on your home page, you can hide people individually so that they don't show up. Their content is still available at the bottom of the page where there will be a link that says "Show ## Hidden Posts."

Another way to clean up your home page is to organize your friends into Groups. The group names show up as links in your left-hand sidebar. Clicking on any group name will display feeds from only those who are members of that group.

Jennifer,

Thanks for writing about Facebook. We all get bored with things after the initial attraction wears off. I still use facebook and try to keep the business to a minimum. It's a good way to see what old friends and family are up to. When I have a sale, I just post "Diane does it again,,,,SOLD" with one pix of the property. I always get comments. It's just another avenue to let people know you still in business. My main source is my data base (7 categories). I send 2 + flyers a month and I ALWAYS get a response. If I don't send a flyer for a few weeks, people ask if I was away or "what's happening?" My data base is GOLD for me. Stay with Facebook, it can't hurt... Happy Sales to you...

I agree - I agree - I agree. I worry sometimes about being THAT person that everyone deletes stuff - that's why I built three business pages...

After a break from AR & Facebook, I checked back in recently. This post has some good points. I discovered the hide option this week. I like that you can hide applications. I also discovered the ignore button in the top right corner of the notifications page. You can look through everything- then erase what's left. I haven't yet figured out if there is a way to post pictures for only select groups. Thanks for the post

I like Facebook but I don't like all of the games and whatnot. I tend to permanently hide those who constantly clutter my wall with garbage!

I have friends in Japan and England, Facebook is simply an awesome way to keep in touch. Especially people that travel a lot and are busy, they are easier to reach in this cyberspace. I don't get bothered by spam, I don't friend people I don't know so. However, for me FB is a social venue, I don't flog products and services on FB. If I want to talk to my friends about business, I call them. Poking and sending cyberdrinks, I don't do it a lot and occasionally I get something but it's not an amount that's annoying. I can see if you friend 300-400 or more, it is going to get overwhelming and you are going to have to rein(RAIN) it in!

Hi Jennifer. I agree with Damon above. It's been annoying to be bombarded by the trinkets too and the quizzes.

Oh this is so perfect for me right now. I'm had it up to HERE will all the ad about blah blah blah and want drives me nuts is they go on and on and on - they must not have a life. I'm off to go play hide and seek. I am liking this game today!

Jennifer,

I totally agree. I boycotted facebook for a really long time, but now that I'm on friends from all over my past have popped up in these three weeks. They play the games like FARMVILLE... sorry but I HATE the pictures. I don't want to block these people because they have other posts that are interesting or useful. So, I too, have come to the conclusion that I probably need a second page for business. But then, how to update 2 facebooks and not lose any more time?

anyway, Mafia Wars is really fun... snicker, snicker!

I guess where the masses are, that's where the advertisers are going to be. Friends, Followers, Subscribers - most likely they do not want all of the business announcements, just the interesting people stuff. I have two Twitter accounts and will probably do the same w/FB. Timely post, Jennifer.

Okay, I've looked for "Groups" and can't find that feature... help??

Jennifer,

ActiveRain has a tool under Settings that allows us to direct all AR posts directly to Twitter. So far, so good.

Twitter has a tool that allows us to direct all Twitter comments to Facebook. I took advantage of this. After a while, I thought, WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING? Insulting my friends? So I stopped the Facebook updates and am very glad that I did.

Hi Jennifer - I should have said Friend Lists rather than Groups. Groups are a different application in Facebook. Click on Friends at the top of your home page, then Create New List. You can make as many as you like ... high school, Rainers, AL real estate agents, etc.

I have stopped allowing a couple of feeds to my wall. I also have cut off some groups and fan pages that weren't relevent to me. I don't have THAT much spam on Facebook. I guess I have started filtering more efficiently.

I went through that. I had way more friends on my friend list than were actually friends and I'd lost site of my friends and family I was on there to keep in touch with. So I deleted my facebook and started over. Its been fun starting up again.

I have 2 accounts--one for me and one for my company. I recently started removing some people from my friend feed because they're just filling me up on with nonsense streams of communication. Just HIDE them.

Jennifer.. this is a great topic... We see this often. Myspace was the same way... I burned out on that one too.. Facebook is still interesting. The advertisements can add up. Great suggestion to hide them. Also the fan and business pages can be great to posting listings, market updates ect.. your thoughts ?

Hey Jennifer! There is an alternative. You can "hide" those that are posting too many spammy things.

I have also grouped my connections into categories so I can click that category and see the posts of only those people that are in those groups. For example, I have a group for classmates, one for family, and one for Real Estate friends. This makes my time on Facebook much more rewarding!

AUG

2009

So I'm one of those Facebook friends that apparently every other commenter here hates. I LIKE Mafia Wars and play it every now and then. However, I also post a message every few days telling my friends how they can hide the posts about my Mafia Wars addiction. That way they know that they can still be my friend and see what's going on in my life without having to be bombarded by the Mafia stuff. Just click that little arrow several people have already told you about, and select "Hide Mafia Wars". Never again will you get a Mafia Wars post from me or anyone else! But if you ever want an invite to play, just say the word. :)

I had seen the hide button before but thought I would somehow let the person know that I was not watching them. I hide many yesterday and now I have my friends back.

I am SO glad I posted this blog. The HIDE feature is phenomenal; so is the "Create a List." I'm back in control of my Facebook and I like it!

Jennifer, I've hidden some friends but I've deleted some "friends" too. All friends are definitely not alike. I also try to check out how "friends" post on their page before I agree to "friend" status.

John means "Lists" ... You can create "Lists" and put different people on different lists ... and then drag your "A-List" to the top, so by default those are the only folks you see when you first open Facebook...

On your Facebook home page, look at the left column ...Right below the list of icons in that column, you'll see a link that says "More"... Click on "More", then at the bottom of the expanded list, click "Create New List" (If you don't have a lot of stuff in the left column, you'll see "Create New List" without having to use the "More") button.

After you click "Create a New List" a box will pop up displaying all your friends. Create a name for the list, then work thru all your friends, selecting just the one you want to appear in your default A-List update feed.

When you've Finished selecting friends, click "Create List"

That new list will now appear at the bottom of the icons in your left sidebar column. Click on "More" again to expand the list.

Once the list is expanded, you can drag the icons to different positions in the list. Drag your new A-List to the top. The list that is at the top is the one that will display by default when you open Facebook.

To read what's in the other lists, just click on the list title.

Using this technique, you can make separate lists for special friends, family, Active Rain Friends, people in a particular club or group, church friends, etc., etc., etc....

Jennifer, I just eliminated one "friend" who multiple times daily has bombarded me with a webinar that seems to be constantly repeated. We should not be obsessed with the number of friends we have just like points here don't automatically bring you business. I would also recommend that when you accept a friend you don't know, think twice about whether you want them in your feed. You have that option on acceptance.

I hide so much... I did not realize my friends all had so much free time. I don't know when they sell all those houses.

I have several FB friends that are local activists. While they are not trying to sell anything, and the posts are always very informative; ya know, some days I'm just not up to hardcore politics.

Being able to corral those folks on a list is the best thing since sliced bread. The information is there when I want it, but not in my face on the days I don't want to deal with it. :-)

I just cannot get into Facebook. Every now and then
I log in to see what people are talking about and I think, "These people have too much free time on their hands". Then I have to get rid of all the requests, invites, etc. I just don't get it! Maybe I'm a social misfit???

Jennifer, Great blog on this subject. I am not on Facebook. I know many are but I feel it's just one more technology or one more thing on top of a busy day to keep up with. I hear lots of similar stories to what you are saying and can't stand the thought that if I joined up then I would be inundated with spam advertisements that I just don't want like I get now with Outlook. I've heard it can be a great business piece for fun for past friends and school mates. I guess the bad sometimes comes with the good.

I agree, I am very selective about who I add as my friends. This has help me a lot with the SPAM.It is ok to delete people who are "aggressive" with their spamming I do let everyone know I am on Facebook for business, so please do not send me information that is unrelated to my field.

Hello,

Great post and great comments! I am going to do the same as some who have commented... I am going to have a business and personal... Love it! Thank you....

I am kinda bored with FB - it is funny banter from some agents but people I added when I wasn't sure I didn't need to - who needs it. It is stupid and I could care less. I think it is a drag.....

AUG

2009

You can adjust your settings so you don't get all the notifications in your email. I hated the "flair" messages and "join my mafia war" from my family and friends.

When using Facebook, you need one (1) account. Your profile should be for family and friends and then have your business page(s). With a business page you can separate personal and business. (I had a client who didn't listen and had embarassing photos tagged over a weekend from him in college - 25 years ago!) With a business page you can promote it and feel comfortable to send people there without them looking at your vacation photos, etc.

Add your business page information to your signature block - in fact, add your social sites, your blog, etc.

I've noticed a "hide" function lately. I had a friend who posted scores from some online game every time she played it. It was really annoying- then I saw the "hide" options. I could hide the friend or just the app. I hid the app and now I hear from my friend at appropriate intervals.

I've been studying an internet marketer who makes a lot of money on the web. He keeps his FB and Twitter posts around an 70/30 ratio of entertainment vs. promotions. I'd say that's more the way to go. Promote yourself but puhleeze make it worth visiting your page whether it's a website or a profile.

Dave Keys - Read My Homework on the Grand Canyon

We feel the same way and hiding the app also seems to work the best at this point for us.

I haven't read all of your comments here, Jennifer, but I have quickly become adept at "scan and delete." I want to be able to see people and comments of interest to me - not advertising. I've also started unfollowing people on Twitter who send constant tweets about growing my Twitter followers by clicking on this link or who post constantly about Acai Berry Juice. I've learned that it may make me feel bad for a moment as I click "delete" or "unfollow" but it's just that - only for a moment.

~Renae

AUG

2009

Jennifer - Glad to see in your comments that you have gained some momentum with FB again via the "hide" feature. You can also have several friend lists that can allow you ONLY to see the updates of those folks in that one list. That is a good way to break it down as well. If someone is doing too much spamming just put them in a different group of friends per se.

Jennifer - You make a very good point. I am even seeing a lot of posts on AR that are just becoming advertisements for agents. I will keep this in mind whenever I send an email. I have not sent out any advertisements on Facebook.

AUG

2009

Jennifer,

It seems that as soon as a social network hits the big time, like Facebook, the spammers follow and often quickly ruin the whole thing for everyone. Selectivity is the norm with Facebook now.

AUG

2009

Jennifer,

I'm thinking about implementing a 3 strike rule for people on facebook and twitter. If you waste my time by subjecting me to the banality of useless spam you're out. I just have to come up with a time line that's fair.

AUG

2009

Let me know what you come up with, Brian!

I love AR as I just learned how to "hide" those friends posts that clutter my FB. Have a great day!

AUG

2009

Jennifer...did you try joining one of the Facebook Suggestions groups available? Word is they really do read the posts on there.

I have everyone categorized by lists and definitely block any silly app. Really dislike the mafia stuff and the 'round of drinks'.

Either way, as we can see on Mike Mueller's post, Facebook is seriously enforcing the law.

Congrats on an awesome post...again.

AUG

2009

Hi Jennifer, yes that is very important, good reminder, think twice before you post and make it interesting. I only accept invitations after I researched them a bit... Thanks for sharing

AUG

2009

Interesting post and agree. I try to do 2 or 3 personal posts each day on FB and 3 posts weekly from AR to my FB. Going to go see what it takes to seperate my friends and Associates.

AUG

2009

You can turn off and on most updates and spam on facebook.

AUG

2009

Good point.. and I'm the first one to admit I'm guilty of this. I'll have to figure out a way to separate business from pleasure

Great post! I just went in and played around with my settings...I know...I know...just wasn't too much of a concern until the spam came drifing in!

Thanks!!

AUG

2009

Jennifer with Facebook rolling into Twitter I could see that I only use Facebook or Twitter for business only,

Have a great week.

Jennifer... I just don't get where Facebook can really help me. It is very time consuming for me with Twitter, ActiveRain, Facebook, YouTube. I probably need to hire someone just to handle that stuff. Help.. What are you doing about it? Ken

Ken and others -

Maintaining a strong cross-marketing campaign on the internet is very important for your business.

There are also other sites that you should be working with. If they are probably set up with one another, they can work together to save time.

I recently added an article to my personal blog (not on AR) and there is a spreadsheet at the bottom you can use to see if it might be feasible to outsource (i am working on it being interactive with my site but not finished with the programming yet.)

http://practicalrealestatemarketing.com/blog/2009/08/28/you-are-not-servicing-your-clients-100/

Take a look and see if maybe your time is best spent elsewhere than on a social site. There are lots of options for you to get someone to help maintain your presence for you - make sure they REALLY know social networking/media and real estate.

Billie Hillier
PRACTICAL REAL ESTATE MARKETING

AUG

2009

Ken - I tend to agree with you. While I started to enjoy Facebook again after this blog ran, I'm now bored with it again. Just too much stuff, most of which I'm not interested in. I don't think I'll ever be a social mediast!

SEP

2009

What is the recommended personal to business ratio for fb posts? Something like 90:10. That seems about right to me.

SEP

2009

Jennifer:

I'm stuck between Blip.fm and Facebook- I don't want to be. I need sleep, too.

My battery is depleted.

Great post Jennifer! But you know what...I love Facebook. It generates business especially when I DON'T discuss real estate and it helps me connect with friends and colleagues in away that I wouldn't be able to otherwise. I will add that as the number of my "friends" grows, I need to investigate the hide feature as some people are beyond SPAM! I have deleted friends and have no hesitation doing so if our friendship is about someone shoving whatever it is they're hawking down my throat as opposed to real interaction.

SEP

2009

Two accounts is a very good idea. I started a business page which I have available to clients & prospects (which in turn posts to my twitter!) on the internet and on top of that I have my own personal account I use for connecting with friends. Social networking is where it is at!

SEP

2009

I absolutely hate facebook. I think it is one of the crappiest web applications to ever come along and was completely shocked to see it become as successful as it did. I can't wait for the next app to come along and make it a thing of the past. It is crap.

SEP

2009

I agree and I am sometimes so challenged with the time to learn new media I did not know how to stop all the updates that clog my page. Thank you Kim for that info.

I don't feel like I have time to do mafia wars, farmville, or constantly give out things to my contacts. I do want to see the new stuff as some of it is interesting but it gets lost in all the other stuff.

SEP

2009

Whewwww, and I thought I was the only one in the United States that was getting soooo tired of hearing how many times my friends were going to the RR or that they turned on the Kitchen light Some on my list might as well be living in a glass house they update us so much, thank goodness for the "Hide" button.

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Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn, Author of Sell with Soul

Pensacola Beach, FL

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