The Queen of Facebook

I won't say who, but I have recently been made the administrator of a public official's Facebook page. This is a subject of some amusement to myself and my friends, since it means I am now technically paid to be on Facebook. I think that's hilarious and am naturally milking it for all its worth!

Facebook has turned in to quite an amazing critter over the last few months, surpassing MySpace to the extent one rarely hears it mentioned anymore. These days, I hear Facebook and associated phrases used on TV and in movies all the time. Classic example is the breath mint commercial where the young man offers a variety of people a mint, proclaiming "Friend Request Accepted" each time someone takes the proffered mint and "Friend Request Denied" when a big, musclebound, macho man acts like he's going to smack the guy for offering him a sweet.

Originally created as a social networking program for college students, Facebook has grown to the point where its millions of global users run the age gamut from 13 years old (the minimum age to open an account) to.... well, at least, 74 years old, which is how old my Uncle Richard is and he has an account. Families are now commonly networked through FB, sometimes to their detriment. There was a recent news report about how parents and children may want to reconsider being FB friends, as the father of the story got "unfriended" by his son because he kept posting embarrassing photos of the kid being potty trained. Not cool, Dad!

I do believe that it is important that businesses take advantage of Facebook, as it has become a highly effective tool for raising awareness about products and services. This includes encouraging employees to use FB, even at work. (YES! yell all my FB addicted friends.) However, I do not mean be on FB to the extent that work no longer gets done! (I'm a proponent of FB, not a crazy bag lady! Yet.)

I recently had a client that liked me to physically work in their offices but did not like me being on Facebook one bit, despite the fact my work was always completed on time and done well. My client was part of the hospitality industry on Guahan, a business that can be severely affected by natural disasters and unexpected occurrences. Tourism and the hospitality industry are the number one employers of Guahan's workforce and contribute to 60% of our island's economy... so you can see where anything affecting tourism would be a big deal to us.

One day, the marketing manager asked me to begin preparing a press release because Guahan had just confirmed its first case of H1N1 flu. It was kept very hush-hush, even within the office, because of the potential for tourists to freak once word got out. A press conference was scheduled for 4 pm that day by Guam's health department, where the big announcement would be made in a quietly professional manner. Except it didn't turn out that way.

By 2 pm, the news of Guahan's first case of H1N1 was all over Facebook and because, I, myself, am all over FB, I was able to notify my client that the cat was out of the bag. Needless to say, that client never underestimated the importance of FB again or the potential of having an observant person scanning it regularly. In fact, by the following week, the marketing manager and deputy general manager both had their own FB pages as did the company as a whole.

Facebook is obviously a powerful tool and if not used carefully, can come back to bite you on your behind! I know this firsthand, as I posted a sarcastic remark in my early days as a FB user that was misunderstood and nearly cost me a lucrative new client! Be very careful what you post, because you never know who is reading your Facebook entries.

As an example, someone I know posted negative comments about her co-workers on her Facebook page, to which I added a comment of my own. However, this person was unaware that her employer is also friend of mine and is in my friend list, meaning the employer can read what I write, regardless of whose page its on. You can see where this is going, right? You gotta be careful, people!

Facebook is mostly used for positive exchange between people, most of whom will list "hooking up with old friends" as one of the main pleasures gained from the social networking site. Sadly, there are those out there who use FB for lower purposes, as a way to ridicule people, spread ignorance, or to profit negatively from a site that was designed for positive communication.

More recently, a person that I do not know well began posting very insulting comments about my co-workers and I, writing these negative statements in such a way as to include all the staff in our office. This included me, and truthfully, I have only ever met this person once and don't even remember the occasion. These nasty postings continued for several weeks and on a variety of mutual friend's pages, where I could clearly see what she was writing.

After working in the media for more than a quarter of a century, negative comments about me usually don't bother me at all, but I am protective of people I like and I am fortunate enough to work with a group of people I like very much. So eventually I got sick and tired of this person's online venom and in a roundabout way, made sure this woman knew that I had reached the end of my patience. This was not exactly true.

When it comes to teaching someone a lesson, I can be an extremely patient person. I am not going to lower myself to their level and engage in a namecalling contest, that is far too juvenile and low class for me. No, I am quite content to wait for an opportunity to present itself and after several months, it did. Suffice to say, people who engage in such petty, immature conduct in a public forum should make sure that they never apply for a job where my input is required as part of the final decision. Live and learn, young grasshopper.

But I digress... Facebook can be a joy and while it was designed for a younger crowd, it gives every appearance of being most popular with the 30+ crowd. Yes, we play all the silly games, like Farmville, Mafia Wars, and Cafe World, but mostly we interact with friends and family. We share stories, pictures, and information. We encourage one another, celebrate our successes, and offer a virtual shoulder when things aren't so great.

I love Facebook. I am on it all the time and recently, a dear friend of mine, who incidentally is the same person who gave me my radio moniker "Sister Cindy," referred to me as "The Queen of Facebook." Whew! I'm just thankful someone else said it before I did! Enjoy Facebook, but don't forget that more people are watching than you think, so perhaps it would be best if we all made a pact to play nice and not run with the scissors!