6 Ways I Use Facebook To Connect

Are we really friends if we’re not Facebook friends?

If you aren’t using Facebook, then I would like to invite you to join us here in the year 2010. Facebook is so much more than simply posting what you ate for lunch (or what you’re hoping to eat for lunch). While status updates are a prominent part of the Facebook architecture, there are some great ways to use Facebook to make connections with people. Both people you know and people you don’t know…yet. You can connect with me on Facebook here.

Here are some of the ways I use Facebook to connect with people:

  1. I post links to the articles I write here at timmilburn.com.
    Everytime I write a new post, a link is generated and shows up on my Facebook page. This is a great way to let people (those who follow me) know that I’ve created something new. It shows up in those folks recent news stream. While I also send out a link through Twitter, I find that more traffic is generated through the link on Facebook.
  2. Drop a “Happy Birthday” greeting on people’s birthdays.
    I use fbcal to sync all of the birthdays from Facebook with my Google Calendar. It’s an easy way to see who has a birthday. It’s amazing to see the list of birthday greetings on someone’s page when their special day rolls around. On my birthday, I received over 100 greetings. Now that makes your day feel special.
  3. Create a page for your business or program.
    I recently started the “LeadershipLab” on our campus. One of the first things I did was create a page on Facebook. This did two things: a) It gave me another way to promote the LeadershipLab, and b) it gave people another way to connect with the LeadershipLab. It’s a win-win. People may not visit the actual site all the time, but they can be updated through Facebook.
  4. It’s a great substitute for email.
    Facebook has an excellent messaging feature. It allows you to send personal messages to specific people. I will often send someone a message through Facebook rather than send them an email. Since Facebook is their preferred way to communicate online, it gets to them more quickly and they tend to respond more quickly.
  5. Pictures and Videos.
    This is probably my favorite part of Facebook. I can share and view pictures and videos with ease. It’s fun to see other people’s pictures and video creations. Facebook is quickly becoming the global “refrigerator” for people to show off their art.
  6. “Like” is an action verb, not a feeling.
    Facebook gives people the chance to “like” things. You click a button that says “like” and your vote is counted. I give people a chance to “like” posts here at timmilburn.com. If you “like” this post, you can simply click the button down below. I will often read a comment and “like” it. It’s easy and quicker than typing a comment. It shows your support and offers feedback to the author.

How do you connect with people on Facebook? Share some of your helpful advice in the comments below.
And don’t forget to click on the “like” button if you liked this post.

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