Facebook Slut July 1, 2007
This may not sound like a ringing endorsement, but the thing I like most about the facebook social network is that it is possible for a professional to have a profile that doesn’t look juvenile (the same thing cannot be said for myspace!).
So why should you, as a real estate professional, care about facebook? According to Joel (and many others), Facebook is the next frontier now that they’ve opened up their platform for business. However, I’m not convinced you’re ever going to see agents, or even typical real estate tools, infiltrate facebook successfully. The reality is that the system is designed to make it super-easy to add “friends” (and tools) and super-easy to remove “friends” (and tools) should they become annoying! Unless agents can make themselves extremely useful in the world of facebook, they likely won’t get much traction.
The real reason to care is that it is a great social network that you can use to track your friends and associates… I’ve been using facebook for at least 6 months now and I didn’t get much out of it until the last month when a huge percent of the RE.net decided to descend upon the platform. Now with most of the people I know returning to the site regularly, I find myself checking the site for updates throughout the day…
If you haven’t yet joined up, it’s quite easy… The first two things to do are to (1) fill in your profile information and (2) upload your email address book so that the facebook platform can tell you who you know who is already active on the site…
However, for the conspiracy theorists out there, I have a couple of treats! Before you provide too much information, check out this video that describes Facebook’s connection to the CIA and Information Awareness Office. And if you liked that video, check out the origins of MySpace… According to this video, myspace was started by a major spyware player… (part 2)…
If, after watching these videos, you still want to take part, then I look forward to seeing you on Facebook! Either way, I don’t think social networks are ever going to be a substitute for your online marketing! (but they are a great way to be reminded of people’s birthdays!) 
[update: I just re-read my title! That was my "working" title and not meant to be the title I went "live" with... whoops! If you are a "friend" of Galen on Facebook, then the "slut" reference might make a bit of sense! ]
Check out these related posts:
- Social networking around geography
- Tech Thursday: Are you addicted yet?
- I interrupt the regularly scheduled programming…
Article Tags>> conspiracy | facebook | myspace | social-networking | video
- Posted in : Agent Advice, Technology
- Author : Dustin
Comments»
The new James Bond’s of the future are certainly going to be from cyberspace.
Okay Dustin, I’m taking your word for it and I’ve signed up for Facebook…
What do think of LinkedIn? Granted, it’s not the active social network that Facebook is, but it seems to be geared to more professional connections.
I admit, I sign up, enter my info and upload my photo to these on-line social networks and then…that’s it. Nothing. I mean, I accept friends, etc. I know I’m not “working it”. I only have so much time in the day and when time permits, I’d rather blog.
Rhonda, one of the reasons that I think facebook works well is that they’ve integrated email pretty darn effectively. I find that I get a few emails each day from facebook that remind me that someone just left a message, or added me as a friend. Just enough to keep me going back for more…
Robbie, I’m even more of a LinkIn Slut! Considering the amount of time it takes to be prominent in that community (just a few hours every few weeks/months) and reach a large group of well-off clients, I can’t imagine why a real estate agent who wanted to do internet marketing for their business would not take part in LinkedIn!
Robbie -
This is a great article at ProBlogger that discusses the pros and cons of a bunch of the social sites. I use Facebook and LinkedIn, but think that LinkedIn has a better business component than Facebook does.
The example I used last night in a conversation for LinkedIn is this - when I was canned about 7 years ago, my first thought was, “darn, I should have gotten a home equity line just in case, and now it’s too late!” LinkedIn is my way of making sure that it won’t be “too late” if I need to quickly diversify outside of real estate - if I work it properly and participate, the connections will be there should I need them.
Just to be clear, I don’t think I ever said Facebook or LinkedIn will be a 100% substitute for an agents online marketing. Just that it can be another tool in their arsenal - and one that will appeal greatly to the GenX/GenY buyers and sellers. Agents/brokers will just have to learn the ins and outs of navigating these networks.
and Joel… I happen to think you are right on target!
It’s safe to say I’m a facebook fanatic too. It’s just tooo cool & useful NOT to usel!
Just like the other social media tools out there, Facebook is going to be a part of a comprehensive social media strategy. I’ve made connections through blogging, Facebook, twitter and most recently trulia voices and consider them all to be potential sources of future opportunities and plan to continue exploring their utility.
In fact, I posted one of our recent listings on the Facebook marketplace to test the waters and I’ve gotten two responses with one looking like it will turn into an appointment.
As for privacy, my information is already accessible on countless other networks and I figured that I would try to keep my identity in Facebook as open as possible and then adjust it if it becomes uncomfortable. So far I feel that I’ve been able to successfully manage the convergence of my social and professional networks within Facebook, something that I never would attempt to do on MySpace. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts.
Dustin,
I like myspace because my daughter is on there, I’m on her friends list, and they think I’m a cool mom so they invited me to be on THEIR friends list.
I must say that I now know more than I ever did before about who is grounded and why.
Although I won’t be giving up the free ticket into her world, I just uploaded a facebook account.
As far as linkedin goes, I have more people contacting me than the reverse; I just haven’t really played around with it much.