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"ActiveRain syndrome" Facebook Training...

“ActiveRain syndrome” Syringes from Nathan F's Flickr photostream

They are setting up clinics as we speak...

They're giving out shots.

Pregnant women, young children, at risk individuals and healthcare workers will be immunized first.

Don't come to work if you have it.

Cough or sneeze into your elbow...

Wash your hands constantly

Use hand sanitizer...

Wear a face mask if necessary.

Wait...

Relax that's H1N1 flu NOT ActiveRain syndrome.

My fairy blogmother Frances Flynn Thorsen (who is an ActiveRain member) wrote about "ActiveRain syndrome" on her Real Estate Social Media Policies blog in Dirty Little Secret About Realtor Facebook Training

Lack of Strategy aka “ActiveRain syndrome”. Some bricks-and-mortar strategies apply to online engagement. In recent years, the ActiveRain blog community established a peer-to-peer social networking model replicated among licensees on other social platforms. Take the First Time Home Buyer Seminar bricks-and-mortar marketing device. Whom does a REALTOR invite? A lender? … home inspector? … and people who are renting! Does a Coldwell Banker REALTOR host invite all the RE/MAX agents in town?

RE people talking to one another? The nerve... aren't they supposed to listen to the teachers and social media gurus who know better?

I believe Frances is saying ActiveRain syndrome has spread to other organizations too...she says:

There are increasing numbers of qualified REALTOR groups where agents can gather and engage … Women’s Council of REALTORS has new groups, CRS and other specialty groups are pages where licensees can gather and share ideas.

Or is she saying those groups are OK to share.

When I first read the 'Dirt Little Secret' post on Facebook I thought the post was blaming ActiveRain for the spread of people in the real estate industry talking to people in the real estate industry. Maybe it is.

Might be ActiveRain Syndrome or it might just a natural reaction... Locally I see a lot of the public relations people and IT people talking to one another too... can't blame that on ActiveRain.

This tendency to talk to one another... to "group with" one another, to help one another is a bad thing?

ActiveRain syndrome don't let it affect your Facebook

All those friends you've added on Facebook? Frances says "Say bye, bye" she wrote: "Choose Friends Wisely/UNfriend Fellow REALTORS. Most REALTORS’ Facebook Friends lists are comprised of fellow REALTORS. REALTORS. Real estate Facebook trainers can share good dialogue for declining Friend requests and UNfriending fellow REALTORS."

So if you go to a class and an educator (that is who Frances is addressing I believe) urges you to UnFriend those in the Real Estate industry....

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathanf/ / CC BY 2.0

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Posted by Maureen McCabe Central OH Homes on 11/04/2009 06:06 PM

Comments (13)

Social Media in the ActiveRain Channel

facebook, activerain

Post is included in group: Real Living
Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: FACEBOOK BLOGGERS
Post is included in group: Addicted to Active Rain

13 Comments on "ActiveRain syndrome" Facebook Training...

NOV

Hi Maureen... WOW! Now isn't that some food for thought. I think that I will keep my Facebook friends who are REALTORS though.

I went and read the article, interesting as Frances is.

I don't understand...maybe I'm tired but I don't see anything wrong with Realtors engaging other Realtors.

I need to do more on my Fan Page. It's lonely.

NOV

Steve Frances and I have 200 some Facebook friends in common. Something tells me those are probably all in the RE industry. OK for her to talk to them because... she is a guru? she has something to tell them? or maybe it should be sell them.

I actually did delete a few friends we had in common who are in the RE industry. No names mentioned but they are the self proclaimed RE media gurus who are selling something. I looked at what they've posted and found it unengaging and decided to say "bye bye."

I first read her little post on Facebook but went to her post to see who was talking about it there. RE educators and RE social media gurus...

I've wondered if they are threatened by people learning from friends rather than getting things right from someone who is a guru.

Missy I just found out my fan page was never launched which is OK because I have the company name in it. I had read on ActiveRain from a Realtor... NOT to do that. That is in Frances post. I heard it from someone who is not a guru first...

I am not sure that Real Living HER will always have the HER. The name has morphed more than once and that would not be something I would want to not be able to change in the future.

It's not like agents weren't talking to agents before AR. IMHO everyone wants to be AR.

Stefan Swanepoel said join AR on Tomato Radio....actually he gave 5

ActiveRain

Real Town (is Frances still affiliated with them? )

Real Estate Wiki (Stefan's own)

Inman?

I missed #5

Then separately he talked about Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In I think he mentioned Trulia but no Zillow mentioned?

I went to a class about Social Media given by our board. Brian Copeland taught it. Do you know who he is?

For blogging he recommended 4 places to be:

Blogger

WordPress

ActiveRain (he is a member)

Trulia

he then said the last two are just real estate. He did not say the AR heresay that makes me so angry... that AR is just for talking to other agents.

Still I thought it was an odd list. He talked about WordPress being better than Blogger but being more difficult.

He is a media star and RE spokesmodel but I still enjoyed listening to him.

Wow, both your post and Frances' was very interesting. I am just currently re-doing another Fan Page so as to not have the company name on it. ANd, I gotta be honest, I love all you guys but I already have you here and most of you on Twitter - I don't need ALL of you as Friends on FB - not being ugly!

I sent Leesa a private message.

I am not that into Facebook, I seldom friend people but often will accept RE agents that I know. At first I was trying to not accept invites from people I know here but as people leave ActiveRain to get more involved in their own blog or some other shiny object is the thing they are now following... I am glad to see their face on Facebook occasionally or 140 characters via Twitter.

There are lots of people on Facebook or Twitter who are not on ActiveRain anymore in the industry. For me following them is OK.

I went to a physical class on Facebook months ago and have tried to learn more about it. Just before that class I learned something about Facebook on ActiveRain from Missy Caulk... how to divide up Facebook friends into different groups.

Thanks Missy!

I think in that class we did friend one another... and try the thing where you suggest friends to others, just recently a RL HER Pickerington (other end of Central Ohio) agent who was NOT physically in the class became with friends with an agent in my office whom I'd suggested during that class. Am I leading him astray? We are all the same company, horror of horrors, talking to one another on Facebook! Actually I don't know that we are talking but if he shared something I could learn from... I'd read it. I think the instructor of the Facebook class made the point to all of us that we needed to friend our sphere of influence and have conversations with them on Facebook.... I don't believe she was training us just to talk to one another.

People have to get on and play and see what works for them IMHO.

The instructor poked me a month or so ago.... Personally I ignore ALL pokes. Or have...

NOV

If I didn't need buyer agents, then it would be fine to exclude other agents from my Facebook page. However, I want other local agents to know about my listings, so to me it makes perfect business sense.

Is Frances talking about pages? I assumed she was talking about Friends/ profiles? Groups? Shows how clueless I am when it comes to Facebook.

Wouldn't local agents know about your listings from MLS? That's what I don't understand about real estate people friending or becoming a fan of someone, the LinkedIn Realtor group, etc.

I keep getting invites from RE far and wide to become a fan of their pages but I believe I have mostly ignored those but as I get ready to put up a page I probably need to see some pages.

I'll have to reread Frances post, maybe I will undertand it different if I think of it as pages not friends thanks for the comment.

Rereading it I don't believe Frances is talking pages rather than friends. Especially reading :

"Calling Social Media a Marketing Channel. Social media is NOT a marketing channel. Social media is a conversational medium. Fundamental precepts about purely social engagement eschew traditional marketing language and methods. Return on investment (ROI) is less easily applied to social networking plans."

Fan pages are more for marketing than your profile???

NOV

I have a lot of real estate peeps on my FB and Twitter... I'll keep them until they tick me off. I pick up great tidbits from many of them.

NOV

me too... I've been deleting more re gurus and coaches since reading this

NOV

I just saw this ... good post, Maureen! I'll come back later with a more evolved answer ... I am not saying that talking to each other is wrong, not at all! I am concerned with lack of planning and imbalance of time and energy that is peer-to-peer vs. consumer facing. I think the peer-to-peer behavior patterns on ActiveRain are an impediment to real estate agent success on Facebook.

I love that you share with real estate agents! I always did ... you are more authentic and real than many of the so-called "gurus" in the business.

This post never came up on my Google alerts or I would have responded much sooner. I have a presentation over at Virtual Real Estate Bar Camp, but I will come back later and respond to your questions on this thread. (Next time pop me an e-mail.)

Leesa sounds like she's on the same wavelength as me 8-)

I guess I was talking about you not to you.

I am at vrebc myself. Isn't everyone.. listening to tips from a RE agent...

NOV

I'm back. Let me try to answer your questions and clarity some points. My underlying thoughts about what I call "ActiveRain Syndrome" relate to an imbalance of energies on social media ... I see many agents spending most of their time on social media talking to their peers. I wish that the GROUPS on Facebook were more evolved and more engaged so that significant peer-to-peer engagement could happen there instead of on agents' profile pages and Fan pages.

I left RealTown in mid-2008. I write occasional blog posts and articles and every now and then I engage on the listservs.

I DO urge people to UNFRIEND most other real estate agents on Facebook. Do you invite other agents to real estate events like first-time homebuyers seminars?

I speak with bloggers who earn healthy six-figure incomes from their blogs. Some of those folks are increasingly unhappy they are not reaping financial reward from Facebook and attribute that to a strategy of peer-to-peer engagement instread of consumer engagement.

Frances and I have 200 some Facebook friends in common. Something tells me those are probably all in the RE industry. OK for her to talk to them because... she is a guru? she has something to tell them? or maybe it should be sell them.

I don't list and sell real estate anymore. I give classes to REALTORS, lenders, and small businesses. Many of those classes are Web and social media centric classes and I usually focus on strategy and risk management. I never said you should not talk to people ... Dialogue is good, educational, and fruitful. Do I have something of value? I presented twice about risk management at VREBC ... I will upload two Webinar replays when I finish here. Do I have something to sell? Sure, I sell. I sell a policy manual, consulting services, CE classes, and speaking engagements.

If ActiveRain and peer-to-peer engagement on Facebook are dollar-productive endeavors, go for it! I hear LOTS more success stories on Facebook from people who disengage peers and develop consumer-centric engagement plans. I hear more about dollar-productive engagement in those quarters.

Fan pages are more for marketing than your profile???

YES! Read my article again ... there is a link to the Facebook Terms of Service there. I personally know four people in Tucson - three agents and a Facebook INSTRUCTOR - who lost their accounts because they abused the Terms of Service. Facebook Fan pages let you post listings and other business materials with less risk of losing your whole account.

I first read her little post on Facebook but went to her post to see who was talking about it there. RE educators and RE social media gurus...

I've wondered if they are threatened by people learning from friends rather than getting things right from someone who is a guru.

LOL. Most of the real estate gurus I see on Facebook are happy to work in a peer-to-peer environment. Have you heard anyone except me suggest that REALTORS UNfriend each other? I have not heard anyone say that. One REALTOR/Guru wannabe actually scolded me recently because several agents she knew were UNfriending other REALTORS, and they UNfriended me and her. Frankly, I was happy for them because I thought they were doing a smart thing. She was furious with me for encouraging rudeness among agents. I do not equate business strategy with rudeness.

I see those agents and engage with them on various Fan pages. In the meantime, they are happy with their choice and tell me they feel liberated on their profile and Fan pages.

BTW ... You did a great job with this blog post ... I love the syringes and your attitude, Maureen. As long as you are having fun and making money, do what works best for you. Social media is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Different formulas work for different people.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving ... now I am going to post a couple of social media risk management Webinars at my AR blog. 8-)

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