How to use your time efficiently on Facebook
updated on 8/4/08 to adjust for the “new” facebook.
I’ve lately been getting a lot of people to join Facebook (you can find me here). It is an interesting tool for both expanding your audience and keeping in touch with your existing audience. At Creative Capital we talk about how you leverage (crude term that I don’t think they actually use) your core group of friends to reach out to a wider audience (mainly their friends). This works in FB because it is a) effortless and b) information is passed on through a trusted friend. It makes updating lots of people really easy because it is all automated and you could just be showing up in someone’s feed consistently. If you want specific stories about how this has worked for me or friends of mine, message me and I will share.
Anyway, one of the things about facebook is that it can a) be a real time suck if you let it and b) can be filled with useless crap. Here’s the quickest and easiest way to streamline your time (I normally don’t spend more than about 5 minutes a day on average on it - sometimes more sometimes less).
1. Don’t add applications - you know, the things like Vampire or Mob Wars, Movie Soulmates and all the other stuff that really is a time waster. Maybe you add them in the beginning to check them out (although I don’t even recommend that) but certainly remove them if they get out of hand. It also can make your presence less professional - unless that is the look you are going for. If you want to add some fun applications, then just limit yourself. I have FriendWheel and Places I have Been. Which I don’t keep up with anyway.
2. Manage what you receive in the feed. On your “Home Page” scroll down to the bottom of the “News Feed” to find “Preferences for Top Stories”. Here you will find a slider to adjust for the “Story Types” that you want to receive. I love the updates (friends of mine hate it) and the events, but am not as interested in profile updates and relationships. So I have adjusted it to suit my needs. This helps to ensure that the information that you are receiving is more suited to your interests. Here you can also adjust who you want to hear more about, and who you want to hear less about.
3. If you find that the constant emails from Facebook are a big distraction, then you can adjust that too. Under “Settings” “Account Settings” “Notifications” you can tell FB what items to notify you about. If you are selective with this it will keep your inbox cleaner and not take the focus from the things you are supposed to be focused on.
4. Finally, and potentially most helpful, control those people who are sending you invitations to join everything under the sun! (You know who they are!) Under “Settings” “Privacy Settings” select “Applications” and then “Other Applications.” Scroll down to the very bottom where you will see “Ignored Application Inviters.” Here you can add your own host of “Application Inviters.”
Another thing you can do, if you do enjoy what I call “update haiku” is set up your phone so that you can send mobile updates. If your carrier isn’t supported (thanks t-mobile!) then you can create a link between Twitter and Facebook so that when you update Twitter (which you can do through a text message) it will automatically update your update. Thats how I keep so connected! I swear I’m not in front of the computer that much!
I should also add that in order for your network to be fruitful and successful you do have to participate. So the time that you do spend on facebook - do so wisely and in a sharing frame of mind. (I installed the “Share on Facebook” google bar application so that I can share interesting news stories and blog posts). I rsvp to events that I am attending and comment on photos and walls. I have joined (and supported groups) and fan-ed pages. So your time is valuable and so is a well nurtured network.
Most of all - have fun with it!
