A Modest Facebook Proposal

You much know folks who are much more private than I do. I have not had that happen very often.

Phil, I'm with you. I don't understand when people use photos of someone other than themselves. Photos or dog, cats and flowers always make me wonder about these people.

J. Philip - There are a lot of people I've ignored of FB because I have no idea who they might be.

I get a lot of people wanting to "friend" me. Now days I have to have some idea of who they are.   What really makes me annoyed though are people who do that on Linked In.  Linked In is NOT FB and you need to know who you are linking up with. 

Another great blog Phil, I agree that getting friend requests from somebody you don't know to begin with and then when you spend the time to try to find out who they might be is trying to solve a puzzle is very annoying. 

I am most annoyed by entities who contact me with proposals, products, requests for connection, etc., where there is no easy unsubscribe. 

Since I never subscribed, I'm annoyed that I must "unsubscribe" to end the annoyances. 

I can find anything I want on Google.  Why must I constantly fight the "something you may be interested in" garbage. 

Phil, I totally agree! One of the many reasons why I don't bother with Facebook.

Phil, absolutely fair.  Early on I was doing much like you - just accepting any and all...then the chat boxes would open with a person just wanting to say "hi" or "what are you doing".  Obviously I would pull up their profile only to find there was not much to go on.  After two such exchanges, I found those two and their mutual friends, some legit and some not.  Those not were purged and blocked.

Now, if I get a friend request I actually do the requisite research before accepting a request.  I probably have as many blocks as I do friends!

Hi Phil, have you ever thought of setting up a Facebook page instead of a profile?  It reduces the amount of time as you do not have to deal with the whole friend request information and you can you have them "like you".  This saves a lot of time with management of page.  This makes it so it doesn't mattter how many people like you in terms of time management - really isn't the more people you can get your message out to the better?  Also once you can 25 likes, you can name your page.  If you are able to put your name and real estate or any other good keywords, it can help with SEO.

Does anyone use Google+ and like it better?

Adam has a good idea. I recently set up a business page on Facebook and I don't know what took me so long to do it. Probably because I spend zero time on Facebook. I sign on to my page and ask myself: who are all these people, what are they doing on my page and why in the world do I care?

Phil... I recently was requested to be friends with someone I thought I knew.. and now I am having difficulty in getting rid of him.. Good to be a bit cautious.... at least some info.. as you put it.. "throw me a bone" to let you know the connection. I do have a few that have been hanging out forever.. and no i don't want them... kind of creepy.. 

the philippines.. You would fit in perfectly!

It doesn't bother me at all what you have as your profile picture. It's your page, do what you want to do. ☺ 

What are privacy settings? LOL In many ways, Facebook is morphing into MySpace with people adding people just to add people.

J. Phillip, I like your commnitment to Vets.  I have recently had some VA clients.  I hope more agents do good for them.  They seem to be the most grateful clients I've had.

I have a different approach to FB. If I haven't shared a meal or a beer with you, we're not friends.

I get those all time and I consider them spam, hit delete and I'm done with them.  As a side note I had to turn off the comments on my wordpress blog because of the spam links going into my blog/website.  Some came from ActiveRain the spammers have no morals. If your getting request on facebook, comments on activerain, your outside blog and anywhere else, it's best to report if possible and delete the comment or request. My two cents. 

I am on your page. . . if I get a friend request and don't know them and can't find anything about them because their page is blocked, I don't accept their friendship.  I like Michael's thought of SPAM consideration.  :)

Phil - It is so interesting to see the comments on this thread.  I only accept FB friends where I recognize the name and can figure out who they are - AR, community, local Realtors, etc.  I sold a house via Facebook last summer to someone who I only knew through their visits to Open Houses, so I know the commercial value of FB.  It is part of my social media strategy.

Hi Phil-

But I thought you liked my "elevator speech"...and I was "standing up" !!!   ;-)

Sunsets and Flowers.  I almost spit oout my coffee from that!  They are nuts.  Anyway, I follow the rule similar to yours, connect with those you know on Facebook (or have some common vibe as you mentioned) and connect with eveyone one LinkedIn.  Networking through LI seems to go much deeper and you never know who knows who.  Thanks for the FB wake up call.