Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Facebook – Not Interesting or Multiple Personalities?

I’m not feeling the love for Facebook lately. Or maybe I’m just not using it right. Maybe I’m like one of those people who signs up for Twitter, doesn’t follow anyone and then “doesn’t get it”.

I signed up for Facebook sometime last year, probably May, judging by the date on my first profile photo. I friended a bunch of actual friends. It was fun. A great way to share photos, catch up, etc. I put in my high school and college information and a bunch of people from that part of my life started finding me and friending me. Initally, that was fun, too. We caught up on our lives, shared more photos, talked about careers, families, and more. However, after each initial connection, there would be a flurry of discussion and then it would die down. They would become just another photo in my friend list.

Then, Facebook started gaining in popularity (I know it was already popular, but then it started gaining in popularity with the 30+ crowd). Suddenly, EVERYONE I knew was on Facebook, and started friending me. Seriously, I am “friends” with my friend’s mother. Groups that I have vague associations with now have given me oodles of “friends”.

I have co-workers as “friends”. I see these people all day at work, do I really need to get home and see that they’re making dinner or feeding the dog now? Accompanied by pictures of said dog? (Sorry, if you’re a co-worker and you’re reading this, I really did love that picture of Fido!).

I haven’t really started connecting with people from the Lotus community on Facebook. I did connect with a few, but we’re in the Domino Divas group, how could I pass that up? :) The reason I haven’t connected with Lotus people on Facebook is because I’m not entirely sure I want to mix up my Lotus world with my personal world. (I know, I know, I’ve mixed running and Lotus on blog, I’m a hypocrite, what can I say?).

I honestly find Facebook confusing enough as it is. I already get 500 requests to “pass a drink”, do I really need to add a whole new community to that? I can’t handle the news feeds either. Is there a way to filter it to only show things that might actually interest me? I WANT to see when my friend posts pictures of her new baby. I don’t really need to see that 45 people took some silly quiz.

I know there are lots of Lotus peeps on Facebook. How do you handle this? Do you have multiple personas on Facebook? Do you just tune it all out? Do you freely mix your personal life and your Lotus life? I realize many Lotus peeps can actually be your friend and that’s a bit different, but how do you handle all the people who aren’t really and truly your friend? Connect with them anyway? Let them see that awful picture of you in high school that someone else posted? Or that stupid note that your friend’s sister’s brother-in-law wrote about you and some embarrassing story from the third grade?

10 comments:

  1. I use my facebook account for personal stuff and for personal stuff only. I don't want to share my foto's and events with the Lotus community.
    And yes, I do have collegues and even some customers in my friends list but I never intended it that way. But what can I do? I never invited them but if they send me a friend request it's hard to let them down... I still have to work with these people. That's why I try to keep it to an absolute minimum.
    I use my LinkedIn profile for the 'serious' work. That's where I connect to the Lotus Groups.

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  2. Is this why you haven't responded to my friend's request???

    Just kidding. ;) I use Facebook for friends outside of work and business ONLY. I'm friends with my Lotus team, and even in the same Jeep club as my manager, but none of them are linked to me on Facebook.

    I use LinkedIn for anything business related. Coworkers, Lotusphere people, etc. all are free to connect to me on LinkedIn. But Facebook is for life outside of work.

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  3. Hi Kathy,

    In the top left corner you will see News Feed, Links etc. etc. Underneath there is a Create link. click it and you can create different friend lists. That way you can separate all of your different lives into the different groups. I have a group for High School friends, College Friends, Family, Lotus, etc. etc.

    Once you create groups, you can filter down to the streams of each.

    Also, you can block certain applications, so if you don't want to deal with Pass A Drink, block it, and you never see it again.

    Also, if you see people in your news stream, and you don't really care about their updates, click HIDE next to their names. Then they don't show up in the streams.

    Also, check this link to take care of the preferences. There are sliders that can help you dictate what you see:

    http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=794

    You can also choose who you see more from and who you see less from.

    It can get pretty granular, so I hope this helps!

    Take Care,
    Greyhawk68

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  4. Ahh, see? I WAS one of those people. Is that stuff all new, or was I just being a dope? Soooooo much better now. Maybe I'll start friend requesting people now. Look out! :)

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  5. Most of it has been there, but they don't really make it easy to find. I think I found it out from some old Tips and Tricks for Facebook post on a mainstream blog... But yes, it becomes VERY useful once you know it exists :-)

    -Grey

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  6. If it helps, I don't get it either... I use it, but feel confused every time, no matter if on the web or on the iPhone. Their interface is just bad, you never know where you're at or what you're doing...

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  7. I don't mind mixing my Lotus and Personal life up. If I'm not appealing "as I am" to someone, then they shouldn't bother "friending" me.

    What's really cool is when you discover that someone who is into Notes is also into some of the other things you do for hobbies/sport.

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  8. Funny, I cleaned up my Facebook profile in the event I decide to broaden my "friend" base. My wall ended up looking very similar to a Twitter stream - all that was left was updates and replies to updates! :)

    Maybe I'll stick with my Lotus/Personal separation for now. BUT those groups REALLY helped wade through all of the crap on my Facebook homepage. Thanks Greyhawk!!

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  9. Kathy, we talk about this very topic in the recent podcast. GIves you insight from a Lotus person, a bunch of bloggers and also some big media people. It is Episode 14 of http://TheSocialGeeks.com

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  10. Thanks Chris! Listening to it now...

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