I’ve been on Facebook about three months, which is more or less how long I’ve been here on ActiveRain. I’m finding, not surprisingly, people view their Facebook experience differently.
It will be fascinating to see how we, as individuals, manage this merging of the personal and business on this forum.
Back to the story! I was browsing through Facebook and my eye caught a comment posted between one “friend” to another. Both of these friends are professionals in the real estate industry, but in different capacities. All three of us have a number of mutual friends.
Posted on Johnson’s Wall was a statement from Smith to the effect that that he enjoyed Facebook as a 
diversion, allowing him to see what was going on the lives of his “friends” and he did not appreciate the forum being used for business solicitations. A little later Smith issued a status update wishing everyone would quit using Facebook for advertising.
A few minutes later Johnson fired back telling Smith this the is way social networking works for him. He is careful to have a mix of personal and business related communication. If Smith didn’t like it he could just remove Johnson from his friend list.
My perspective is that Johnson is an active Facebook member, but the majority of his posts are of a personal nature, with a number of updates on the kids and family. However, Johnson has recently made a job change and his most recent updates have centered on this change.
Additionally, in our area, we have seen a lift in activity in various sectors of our real estate industry. A number of status updates, including mine, have been celebrating this pick up in activity. So collectively, it probably has been a bit much.
Smith actually is one of the most personable individuals you will ever meet. He is the life of the party and the kind of guy you can’t help but like. I will have to say I was a little surprised at his reaction.
I can see that this conflict of the merging of personal and business is a dilemma here on ActiveRain from post I am reading.
Examples of posts I have recently read:
Sara Bonert wrote “Do You Have 302 Friends”
Michael Fontana has written “Less Is More For Facebook Friends”
Heather Goodwin posted “Please Don’t Hate Me Because I Removed You From My Friends List”
It strikes me that Facebook means different things to different people and I am sometimes surprised how “friends” react.
How are you managing the merging of personal and business as it comes to Facebook? What does being on Facebook mean to you?
As for me I enjoy the experience and my business is part of who I am personally. If you look me up in Greenville, NC and make a friend request, let me know how we may be networked/acquainted (eg. ActiveRain) I will confirm you. I am interested in how you are using Facebook.
Jay Williams
www.myhomeloanwithjay.com
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Isaac, thank you for reblogging my post. With the updated feature on AR I can now see the reblog.
Hope you are enjoying facebook.
Jay