Why I Quit Facebook

My absence was noted almost immediately. I got three phone calls within 24 hours of hitting the “Cancel” button.

“Where are you? I can’t see you on Facebook???”

And that’s when I knew I’d made the right decision. I had taken the rebellious path… I had quit Facebook.

Why? Can’t Facebook be a good tool for my small business? Can’t Twittering, My Spacing, and Facebooking with friends, clients, consultants, and others be a brilliant method of communication. A great way to stay in touch?

Perhaps.

Maybe there is a way to make it a good business tool. But you know what I found? I found that it was a big use of time. Here’s what my experience was….

I would log in and use it for mostly personal things. I’d look at my friends pictures from the weekend. I’d comment on a few. I’d click the “Like” button to send a little love to my cousins in Nashville. I’d share a recipe with a friend who was about to have her parents over for dinner. I’d look for the little red flag in the bottom right corner to see what had happened since my last login. I’d get excited when I say that someone had actually written me a personal message. I’d watch the latest David Letterman comedy sketch. I’d open the link to an article my dad thought that I’d like to read. I’d read that article. I’d repost it if I liked it. I’d see a name I recognised in the People You Might Know section and then get caught up looking through them all. I’d decide that I have too many friends in my list who I don’t really know, so I’d filter them, categorise them, and “unfriend” the ones who I couldn’t remember at all. I’d log out to get some work done, only to look back over a Facebook every now and again to see if someone thought what I had said was interesting. I’d pretend I was being good by ignoring all social/gadget/game requests (I never started a Farm, played Scrabble, or looked for one single Easter Egg).

I did these things everyday…. Several times a day…. For about a year.

I thought I was being good. I decided not to use Facebook for business. I never “friended” clients, though they would friend me. I didn’t announce much about my business on Facebook (product launches, my own home parties, conference dates), because I was friends with a huge number of other Consultants in my business. How could we all use Facebook for our business without stepping on each others toes? What if one day we complained about a host and the next day that host read about it on Facebook and realised it was HER we were complaining about. What if the incentive trip required me to recruit one more person and I blabbed about that on Facebook. Would my new recruit feel like I’d sponsored her for the right or the wrong reasons when I announce with pride, “I got her! I’m going to Hawaii! Yay for me!” Nope – I think I did the right thing leaving work out of it.

So personally, I tried to tell myself that I was being more social, but the honest to goodness truth is that I was being significantly less social. I wasn’t making more money. I wasn’t deepening any relationships. I was actually “shallowing” the real relationships I have.

This business isn’t about Facebook. It’s about the phone. It’s about the meetings. It’s about the parties.

Get off the computer and get on the phone. Make some appointments to see people in the flesh. Friends or clients, it doesn’t matter. Be real. Get real. Stay real.

Do you think Facebook can build your business? Feel free to share your ideas here.

Make it a great day! WLC.