The Anti-Social Network

Just in time for Halloween, I re-activated my Facebook account. Talk about scary. Since I’d “forgotten” to post anything for the last 8 months, somehow 191 invitations piled up. And we’re not even to the scary part.

While wading through invitations, I attempted efficiency. And in my first ‘re-post’ announcing my new-found efficiency method, I ticked off the Facebook community.

What I meant to do was separate my business life and personal life.

I just felt that the business community didn’t really care about seeing a photo of me wearing a cute but overly large cowboy hat while in my underpants. Especially since I was 32 at the time.

Let this be a lesson to all those who “thought” the job interview went great, but the call-backs went strangely silent. That video of you on stage at the Marilyn Manson concert holds a clue to your spate of unfruitful interviews.

Anyway, when I posted about separating the two worlds, and my ‘limited’ acceptance of friends, some were annoyed. Yet I believe there are…

4 Facebook ‘Friend’ Segments:

1. People who you’ve lost contact with, and are sincerely happy to have them ‘linked’ into your life.

2. People you’ve lost contact with, that you frankly don’t miss.

3. People you sort of knew, but considered anti-social, weird, a little too into Star-Wars, and most likely to be wearing footed pajamas well into their 30’s.

4. The Unabomber

I really only want to stay in touch with Group 1, and might stretch to Group 2 for entertainment only. Yet some users “collect” friends, like baseball cards or matchbooks (with similar emotional investment) so they can proclaim, “I have 7,812 friends on Facebook!”

This elicits jealously among those in footed pajamas, causing them to rewatch the entire Star Wars trilogy – or my preference, its eulogy – during which they begin “friending” people they haven’t seen since the entire 5th grade gave them a wedgie of galactic proportions.

Thus the reason I got so many invitations.

I half considered starting an Anti-Social Network where those with fewer followers are revered.

Now to the business sector. Mixing B2B and Social Media (aside from LinkedIn) is often viewed as handing out business cards at a funeral: you just don’t do it.

Yet there are clever ways to achieve social networking goals and business goals simultaneously without revealing too much “Personal” and without being an overly promotional buffoon.

Next time I’ll share the Business Side of Social Networking.