Facebook: for business, pleasure or both?

By Robin Crumby, Managing Director, Melcrum

First off a confession. I'm a closet Facebook addict. I wouldn't admit to it publicly, but I seem to acquire Facebook widgets by the week and communicate increasingly with friends and contacts this way. And for the record, I admit to being a little old for all this stuff! I can no longer claim to be 20-something or even 30-something.

But I'm still puzzled about the business uses of Facebook. Rather like guest blogger Mark Darby said a few weeks ago on this blog, the juxtaposition of business and social networking is often uneasy. After hours photos in super-hero garb or 70's wigs don't always make the desired first impression.

Figures from Nielsen/NetRatings show that Facebook now has more than 6.5 million Britons signed up. More than MySpace, and representing an incredible 20% of all British internet users. For anyone counting, that's 541 per cent growth since December, according to the FT's maths anyway.

So chances are your employees' adoption of Facebook is at least similar, and depending on your demographic, even significantly higher.

There has been much debate on Shel Holtz's blog about organisations banning Facebook from the workplace as a giant waste of time, estimated to be up to 2 hours lost per day by some. (I find this figure hard to swallow too, though widely reported). And agree with Shel that blocking access is an extreme solution that erodes the trust between employer and employee.

So if Facebook is to be accepted into the workplace, and even encouraged for business networking, then are users really comfortable about having your boss, your client, your neighbour and your best drinking partner sharing the same online space? Or is this all just a little too, well, worlds-colliding-ly-intrusive? I'm not saying I have a secret life as a travelling circus act that I want to keep secret, I just would prefer that business contacts didn't find out that I have an unhealthy Starwars obsession, for example.

As artificial as it sounds, I would prefer to use Facebook for friends, and then a niche site like The Communicators' Network to meet my business networking needs. It means more log ins and places to go visit, but RSS or even e-mail is very effective at taking the legwork out of the process.

With more remote workers and an increasingly dispersed employee-base of the future, I am a firm believer that social media bring people closer together and replace a lot of the missing interaction with colleagues.

But I'm just not sure that one site like Facebook can meet all my needs. But what about you?

Comments

[William Cullerne Bown]

I agree with all that. But why not take the argument to its logical conclusion? Wouldn't it be best for all the niche networks actually to be spaces within one big network? That would be my vision.

[Sue Dewhurst]

I prefer to keep things separate, if I can. I use the comms network for everyone I know from the comms world, LinkedIn for business contacts outside the comms world and Facebook for the people I know well enough to read status updates about my latest haircut-gone-wrong or messages telling them I love them after a couple of glasses of wine.

I don't consider Facebook a business tool at all, and I don't use it to send business messages, even if I happen to be mailing someone on there that I'm also working with.

A while back I tried to set my boundaries and went through my contacts on each network to put them into those categories. I worry about offending people though, so I agonise for ages about not making people Facebook friends. I might like them a lot,I just don't know them well enough to risk declaring my undying love for them after alcohol!

[Annie Waite]

Here's some survey data from press release I received that might be of interest on this subject:

Eighty-seven percent of all respondents thought that social networking sites could be used for business purposes with 43% mentioning recruitment, reveals a survey conducted by email research specialists, emedia, using its RapidResearch service.

Other business uses cited include networking (65%), exchanging ideas (58%), getting advice (44%), research (35%) and selling (31%).

The survey also indicates that users of social networking sites visit these sites on a regular basis and almost half of them (48%) admit using these websites at work. Nearly one in four (24%) users log in every day with half of them logging in several times a day. Up to 45% of users log in at least once a week.

Almost two thirds (62%) of users say they are worried about the safety of their personal data held on these sites. The concern is so high that nearly one third of users (31%) have already entered false information about themselves to protect their identity.

Anne Fairweather, Head of Public Policy at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, the professional body for the recruitment industry, says: „As more employers rely on internet searches to filter out unsuitable candidates, it is vital that jobseekers take their internet footprint seriously. Employers also have a role to play and should not make decisions on whether to take candidates through the interview stage solely based on information they find on the internet.‰

The research shows that 81% of those surveyed use networking sites. The top five websites respondents have heard off are MySpace (89%), YouTube (88%), Friends Reunited (81%), Facebook (73%) and Bebo (51%). But the most popular sites amongst users are Friends Reunited (47%), YouTube (42%), MySpace (39%), Facebook (26%) and LinkedIn (19%).

Respondents keep in touch with various contacts amongst their social network, including friends (46%), colleagues (24%) and even client or potential clients (8%). Those surveyed visit social networking sites for personal and professional reasons, with 67% contacting old friends and reinforcing existing friendships and over one in ten (11%) using them as a tool for business purposes.

Half of users find advertising on social networking sites intrusive. Interestingly 72% of users opted out to email newsletters from these sites and up to 93% opted out to email newsletters from selected third parties.

The ŒRapidResearch Social Networking Sites Survey‚ focused on computer users views of social networking sites and was concluded in August 2007. Over 100 individuals replied.

[Matt O'Neill]

Hang on Robin. I'm confused now.

You say you're not a '30 - something'?

In August you announced Melcrum's 11th birthday? If you were one of the 27 year old founders, that makes you 38 tops!

Something doesn't add up here.... Is it my assumptions, or have you forgotten your age?

M

[robin Crumby]

No flies on Matt! So, you're saying that you don't round up on the '-something' scale? I can still claim to be 30-something then? Suddenly I feel a whole lot younger. Eternal debt of gratitude, well for two years, at least.

Our survey data from CommsNetwork members suggests that people who are active on one social network are active on several, as Annie's great data suggests. It would also imply that either a lot of people have not yet made up their minds or that people are quite happy to have two or more networks to serve different purposes.

I rest my case (for now).

[melissa dark]

Hi Robin, As a fellow Facebook addict this rang many bells for me. For a long time I avoided anythng on the internet that required my real name, just for professional credibility reasons. But that's just not possible anymore. (And besides, Facebook is so much FUN!) So even though, as both you and Sue have suggested, I do have separate purposes in using Facebook vs the Communicators Network for example, there's still an awful lot of people that can see me in both places. Potential clients, associates, employers, etc. So I think it is a tricky blurring of the lines and in the age of "reputation management" something worthy of serious thought.
Cheers,
Melissa

[Richard Dennison]

Ten years ago, people thought work was a 'place' not an 'activity' ... we are in danger of falling back into that mind set with 'virtual places'. The idea that on the web you can partition off work from every other activity in your life is, in my opinion, undesirable and futile.

Likewise, the fuss about people 'discovering' your internet footprint seems very odd to me. Presumably, your internet footprint is a good reflection of who you are as a person - should you be ashamed of who you are ... should you pretend you are something you are not to anyone - even a potential employer? Relationships of any description (personal or employer/employee) are most successful when entered into with eyes wide open ... not half shut. If social media is about anything, it is about 'authenticity'.

If you don't like what you see in the mirror, covering half of it up with a blanket isn't the answer!

Without wishing to get all existential - Gloria Gayner hit the nail on the head:
'I am what I am
And what I am needs no excuses' ;-)

[Robin Crumby]

Also, did you see Lucy Kellaway's agony aunt column in today's FT about what to do if your boss asks to be your friend on Facebook. Very funny. I'll write it up and post it here tomorrow at some point.

[Jeremy Phillips-Powell]

Facebook or technology along similar lines has the potential to be hugely positive for companies if used construtively. The idea that virtual networks can self-organise and share knowledge and co-create ideas and solutions is really powerful. In fact we bang on about engagement but that pretty much sounds like it to me. This requires communicators and leaders to be prepared to let go and relinquish control.

As for the dividing line between work and non-work - people spend most of their lives there so the two are inter-twined whether we like it or not.

So I think we should embrace it and make our companies more productive and more fun in the process.

[Sona Hathi]

Excuse my cheekiness, but Robin, as one of your employees, I promise to maintain the same level of respect I have for you even after finding out about your secret Star Wars obsession!

I was initially going to say that I agree whole heartedly with what Richard says, the person you are should remain consistent while at work and at home. If you have to have two different identities, or hide things about yourself at work then something's going wrong! But then I realised that that would be in the perfect world and in the real world people are judgemental... and nosy!

Melcrum has an open and honest culture - with respect and equality being central to this, but even so, Robin and I aren't Facebook friends.. yet! So imagine this situation in companies that don't have a culture like ours? People would understandably be very hesitant to have their boss checking out what they're up to outside of work and making judgements on this.

I'm attending The Facebook Debate which has been organised by the British Interactive Media Association on Wednesday evening. Is anyone else going to that? Watch this space for my post debate thoughts.

[Matt O'Neill]

Since selling Imarco Activ-Media to another company, I am now an employee myself.

The CEO and I are facebook friends.

If he dared to comment on my FB activities, i'd tell him where to go a bit sharpish.

Whilst work forms part of personal identity, it's only an element.

One day, i'm sure i'll be an employer again. When that happens, a pre-requisite for employment will be demonstrating real lust for life, beyond work!

If FB reveals that, all the better.

M