In a lot of ways, you've been social networking since you were a kid.  Facebook helps you leverage those relationships.

Social media has gone mainstream, and the 30+ demographic has stopped dismissing it as 'some fad for the kids' and are ready to start using social media tools a little more enthusiastically.  But given that the average 30- or 40-something is in their peak work/family years, the last thing they need is to get sucked into a social media vortex.


Just because it's 'fun' doesn't mean it's not 'productive'

One of the questions I'm often asked is:  "Why should I bother with Facebook?  What's the point of reconnecting with people I knew in high school and haven't spoken to for years? I mean, it's not like LinkedIn, which can help me with my professional career - right?"

Wrong.

Facebook can be a lot of fun:  Anyone who's joined Facebook can recall those first couple of weeks, when you reconnect with your best friend from high school or that guy you had a crush on during frosh week; share photos from summer camp circa 1982; come across a discussion group for some indie band you thought no one else knew about; or even just catch up with former colleagues to see what they're doing now.

The trouble is, for all of Richard Branson's protestations to the contrary, we're taught to think that if something is 'fun', it can't possibly be 'productive', work-wise.  

Think again.

Still a 'sphere of influence' - just a different sphere

The #1 piece of advice we give to candidates first entering the workforce is "Network, network, network!"  We tell kids who've just graduated to tell everyone they know - friends, family, casual acquaintances they've met at the gym - that they're job-hunting, because we know that ultimately it's a numbers game:  The more people who know you're in the market for a new job, the more likely they are to think of you when they hear about a job opportunity.

But that's good advice for all of us at any age or career stage.

Your school friends have grown up into successful people - who'll make great business contacts!

Remember, people tend to move in peer groups:  That means that if you're ambitious and successful now, the kids you hung with in high school or university, and the friends you made in your first career jobs in your early 20s, have probably gone on to be successful and ambitious, too.  In other words, they're worth knowing for professional reasons.

That's why Facebook can be just as powerful a tool as LinkedIn when it comes to networking - it's all about the way you use it.

[PLEASE NOTE:  While Facebook is a great networking tool for most professions, I'm focusing on the value for HR and recruiting professionals here, since if you're reading ERE, you probably work in HR/recruiting.]



Why you should be using Facebook
There are a whole lot of reasons why Facebook can be an excellent professional networking tool.  Here are just some of them:

1. The 'fun' value will help you stay motivated
   
   If I had a nickel for every time someone looked guilty and said to me "I know I should be updating my LinkedIn profie more often, but...", I would not need to write this blog, because I'd have been able to purchase a home on Mustique, where I would be right now, blissfully unconcerned with building my personal brand or improving my Google ranking.
   
   About Facebook, on the other hand, people most often look guilty and say "I spent two hours on Facebook yesterday, just kicking around..."
   
   If you're already on Facebook, it's way easy to use it for building your professional profile!
   
2. Facebook delivers better-quality relationships
   
   Because Facebook facilitates conversations, it's easier to build deeper relationships with people than it is on 'business networking' sites like LinkedIn.
   
   You may have a smaller network on Facebook - in fact, the BBC says that 150 is the ideal number of Facebook friends, though I think for recruiters the number is more like 200-250 - but because you're able to have more meaningful interactions, with more people, on a daily basis, those 200 contacts are likely to deliver more ROI in the long run than 1000+ LinkedIn connections.
   
   Bonus tip:  People are always more likely to trust someone they've known since Grade 8 than someone they've met at work, even if they haven't talked to them since high school.  So rekindling an old relationship will always be easier than forging a new one.


3. At least 50% of your contacts aren't using LinkedIn
   You know the kids who went to school with who have great careers - and therefore could be great professional contacts - but who have to keep a low profile or tend not to do a whole lot of networking?  They're not on LinkedIn - they're on Facebook.  If all you use is LinkedIn, you'll miss them.
   
4. Facebook is a better ice-breaker
   Reach out to that guy from your Grade 10 class who you haven't seen in 15 years but is now the Senior VP of some Fortune 500 through LinkedIn, and he'll either not remember you or figure that you just want something.
   
   Ping him through Facebook with a message like "Hey Bob, heard from Cindy you guys just had a baby - congratulations!", on the other hand, and you've just opened a non-sales-related dialogue - which is, as you know, a crucial building block of any great relationship.
   
   Bonus tip:  Facebook's model allows you to leverage your spouse's network, too, because you can see (even just from wall posts) what his/her network is up to.


5. Facebook helps you stay top-of-mind with the people who are most invested in you and your career
   
   Friends and family are the ones most motivated to refer/recommend you.  The News Feed - where your friends can see your status updates and other activities - ensures your friends are seeing your name regularly, which increases the chances they'll remember to recommend/refer you.

Well, this turned into a rather longer blog than I had expected - it's long even for me - but I found the more I thought about Facebook, the more I realized that it's been an excellent tool for me over the past couple of years. 

Not only has it allowed me to reconnect and stay in more regular touch with friends, family and former co-workers, it's also had demonstrable ROI:  It's helped me to build my personal brand;  it's helped me to build the Head2Head and RetiredWorker brands; it's helped my friends and family understand more about what I do for a living (which has in turn helped them to recommend/refer me for business stuff); it's helped me learn a lot (from the links, notes and discussions of my friends); it's connected me with great candidates - and most importantly, I've had a lot of fun doing it.

Which begs the question:  Can you afford not to be on Facebook?