Most of my friends have taken to Facebook like fish to water, but a few seem to have trouble getting started. They can see that lots of their friends are participating but don't really understand what all the fuss is about. A common complaint I hear is that they think it is a waste of time, as if it is something that requires your full attention like TV. I think of Facebook more like the radio that I listen to in the background.
I really enjoy Facebook and check it a few times a day. I find it interesting to see the "newsfeed" postings about where my friends are traveling to, pictures they have posted online, events they are attending and connections to friends I've lost touch with.
I have a few recommendations of how you can maximize your Facebook experience if you are just getting started or want to give it a second try.
- Make Facebook the home page on your web browser. This way every time you open a web browser the Facebook newsfeed will flash in front of you for a few seconds. Even when you move on and keep doing what you were doing, you will notice interesting tidbits about your friends activity that is posted on the newsfeed. Every once in a while, something interesting will catch your eye and you will click on it for more information.
- Spend an hour adding as many Facebook friends as you can. Facebook is a social network, and without friends you can't be social. Your newsfeed only shows things about your Facebook friends, and only friends who you approve can see things about you.
- Update your status when you travel. If you're going on a trip, announce it a few days before in your Facebook status, ie. "Joshua is heading to San Francisco on Monday for Ad:Tech" and then "Joshua is in San Francisco for Ad:Tech" and finally "Joshua is back home in Austin".
Follow these three steps and then explore other parts of Facebook for yourself as they catch your eye. I have started using Facebook for sharing pictures because of its ability to "tag" messages with the names of the people in them.
Facebook is not about spending hours browsing through other people's pages (at least not for me). I interact with it very passively - mostly noticing things on the newsfeed and updating my status once a day. Occasionally I'll spend a few minutes browsing but it's more like listening to the radio than watching TV.
Did you read the New York Times article about "ambient awareness"?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html
It discusses the origin of Facebook's news feed, which I think was Facebook's big leap to becoming whatever huge thing it's going to become.
Ambient Awareness: "In essence, Facebook users didn’t think they wanted constant, up-to-the-minute updates on what other people are doing. Yet when they experienced this sort of omnipresent knowledge, they found it intriguing and addictive."
I love Facebook's Live Feed. I just wish it wasn't so buggy, and that I could filter out some of the inane things my Facebook friends do with the silly applications.
If that was the big leap, Facebook Connect is the next hop. Incorporating the other stuff you do online and posting it seamlessly to your Facebook profile? Brilliant. Sometimes, I just want a brain-dead simple way to put my Amazon wishlist in front of more eyes...
Posted by: Hoon Park | December 03, 2008 at 10:34 PM
Love the analogy!
The dopplr.com Facebook app is awesome for updating travel status with friends on facebook.
Posted by: Bijoy Goswami | May 05, 2008 at 07:05 PM