Facebook Posts - the Good, the Bad and the Drunken

Until about six months ago, I wasn't much of a fan of Facebook. Oh, I wanted to be since it seemed like the Place to Be, but I just couldn't get interested in what really did appear to be simply a collection of those cliche'd "what I had for breakfast" posts. In my quiet moments (i.e. when I was bored) I'd log on and desperately try to find entertainment there, but almost always failed in that endeavor.

So, what happened six months ago? Well, I got involved in animal rescue and now Facebook is my new best friend. I've found a community of similarly-obsessed people, both locally and across the country, and together we make miracles happen every day for abandoned dogs in kill shelters. It's honestly the most rewarding thing I've ever done and Facebook is a HUGE part of enabling us to do what we do.

Now, I'm sure that I've "lost" a lot of Facebook friends since my personal page was taken over by doggie chatter and I'm fine with that, truly. I'd much rather someone block my posts than be annoyed with me on a daily basis! By the way, if you want to see the rescue FB page I run, you can visit us here: www.SavingWaltonCountyDogs.com. We truly are making miracles happen every single day.

But enough about me.

I've noticed a trend on Facebook of posting "cute" little postcard-like graphics with provocative, sometimes even offensive quotes. Hey, I'm no prude and sometimes they make me LOL, but some of them, well, don't. And given the nature of what I do, I see a disturbing number of these posts on real estate agents' pages.

Here are a few examples I've seen in the last week:

Funny? Yeah, I guess. But are these REALLY the messages these real estate agents want to be putting out there for all their friends to see? That they spend their days anxiously awaiting happy hour and calling people names? 

I know a lot of people say that they keep their FB "friends" list intimate so that they can let their hair down and truly be themselves without worrying about offending potential clients, but guess what?! Our friends CAN be a tremendous source of business for us and in my humble opinion, implying that we live for happy hour  and can't control our mouths might give even our friends the wrong impression of our professionalism. Like it or not, when you're self-employed, you're always on display. And while someone may think you're a hoot to hang out with (and drink and curse with), the fact is, we choose our friends using a different set of expectations than we choose the people we hire and refer to.

Just something to think about!