(Published on 19th October 2009)

Facebook Is Good For Fun Making, But To Make Useful Impact, We Must Have Good Quality Conversations

Yes, it's good to have fun, and to share personal stories, news about social life..."gist", latest happenings etc. But it is also important to maintain a work-life balance. Indeed, I argue that the relative social security and stability in EACH facebook user's society, may NEED to influence how s/he puts a tool like facebook to use.

Then there is the need to make sense more often - these days. Too many people seem to have allowed themselves to slip unconsciously into a frame of mind that requires little or no effort to be made to make sense - to act more consciously with purpose and intelligence.

Our communication via conversations is a major way human beings impact one another. The more watery the quality of our social conversations, the less impact-ful we become over time.

Bottom line: When using media like facebook, we need NOT limit our use of them to elementary or shallow exchanges. By their very nature, these instruments provide a platform for collaboration more effective than any other technological invention from the past. Our advancement as a society will depend on how INTELLIGENTLY we put them to use, in moving our society forward.

Better Ways We Can Use Facebook

One of the best uses to which we can put facebook is for GENERATING new, high quality ideas about how to solve real-life problems confronting us in our societies daily - tapping from the VERY powerful brains of a potentially unlimited population of fellow users, without time limitations, and regardless of geographical distances separating us.

So when next you are on Facebook, just before you make a post, or share a thought, I humbly suggest:

1. You ask yourself if what you intend to say makes "sense", and has the potential to make useful, meaningful impact on those on your network.

2. If it's a quotable quote, ask yourself, if the impression others will get that you BELIEVE that quote (and by implication abide by it, in your personal life), is consistent with your disposition in real life - especially when no one is watching :- ))

ONE Powerful, Yet Grossly Under-Explored Way Of Using Facebook

One more thing. Some of us tend to needlessly limit ourselves in the use of technology. For me, user-friendly, dummy-proof tools like Facebook, Twitter etc provide virtually anyone with the interest, another possible avenue for achieving valued goals, much more easily.

A good example is BUSINESS. So many people spend their hard earned money using traditional media like TV, Radio, Newspapers etc to promote and market their products and services. Agreed, these methods have been tested and proven over time to boost credibility of businesses before prospective customers.

However, in this period of shrinking consumer spending power and increasing operating costs, every smart business person needs to explore alternative ways to achieve the same results - at LOWER cost.

And that's where using social networking websites like Facebook for ZERO COST business promotion come in. Few people - especially out here - seem to be exploring the potential of facebook in this regard - very few.

And yet, evidence abounds - going by the increasing volume of connections being inexpensively made by people across the world via facebook - that the potential benefits of doing MORE business marketing via facebook at little or no cost, are VERY significant.

Do You Run A Business?

If YES, It might not be a bad idea to channel some of your efforts into establishing a brand building presence on facebook, to complement your website marketing and other offline efforts. Do you plan to start a new business? I urge you to consider "testing" your idea or concept by exploiting the facebook medium, till you develop it to a point, that you feel comfortable launching out on a larger scale.

Recently, I began re-inventing my face book presence to promote interest amongst business focussed persons in adopting facebook as a complementary business marketing medium. I am already helping my clients adopt this new approach. You can learn more about this strategy by reading Shama Hyder's excellent article titled "Top 10 Ways to Use Facebook to Promote your Business for Free" located at http://clicktoclient.com/top-10-ways-to-use-facebook-to-promote-your-business-for-free/

Why not start making more intelligent, good quality conversations on facebook TODAY, and by so doing help increase the availability of useful information that can impact positively on others over time?

That says it all, doesn’t it?