Do You Have a Facebook Hang-up?

by Cathy Miller | Nov 15, 2010

If social media overwhelms, Facebook is the giant steamroller.

Everywhere you go, someone is talking, writing, complaining about Facebook.

Why are we all so hung up on Facebook?

The only reason I signed up was for my business. Yet, I have done very little marketing.

At the risk of turning this into a session on a psychiatrist’s couch, here are some of my issues with this social media phenomenon.

I have never liked following the crowd -with over 500 million active users, it’s quite the crowd
I really hate others deciding what’s best for me
While I don’t think they intend to purposely violate privacy, why isn’t there more regard for it?

I recognize the hang-up may be entirely mine.

Personal issues aside —

Facebook is swallowing up much of our communication media.

Exclusive Topic – It is the featured topic on post after post on social media blogs – to the point of exclusivity
News Stories – although not the kind of press the social media giant prefers, every news station talks about it
Its Own Movie – guess that trumps the cute Microsoft vs Apple commercials

I keep thinking to myself, remember MySpace?

When you are a small business owner, the strategic selection of marketing activities has a huge impact.

For my purposes, I have been unable to make that time commitment leap into Facebook.

There are plenty of highly successful businesses that use the power of Facebook – and good for them – really – but —

I regret going to once favorite blogs only to find them swallowed by the FB Behemoth
I could live a long time without another offer for a costly “how to” seminar, webinar or summit on FB

I know, I know, other businesses are laughing all the way to the bank.

There is just something about Facebook I can’t buy into.

What do you think about Facebook? What’s the hang-up?

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2 Comments

Jen Turi on November 16, 2010 at 7:34 am

Cathy,
Interesting questions to consider. My personal feeling is that like everything else, it has it’s pros and cons and should be used in moderation. I know, but I don’t really know why, that I am cautious to the extreme with it. I haven’t been proactive in using it for business and I don’t use it much personally. Even though I know it is being used successfully for business, I guess I haven’t quite made the leap from viewing it as a personal, social platform. I can see the value for many industries such as restaurants and retail but still classify it differently from other platforms in my mind. Thanks for the interesting questions.
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Cathy on November 16, 2010 at 7:55 am

Hi Jen:

Thanks for stopping by. I do use Facebook for casual, personal use-catching up with photos of grand nieces/nephews, etc.

But, I just can’t seem to make the commitment it needs for a Fan Page and all the things I’m SUPPOSED to do, according to the experts. I suspect therein lies the problem. I hate being told what to do-it’s a middle child of seven syndrome. 🙂

Thanks again for stopping by, Jen. Have a great week.
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