Facebook Updates Protocol

Facebook doesn’t share your status updates with 100% percent of your friends anymore. It’s generally less than 20%, and yet we often do even more damage to our own visibility… particularly, those of us who use our personal pages for both business and personal messages.

Here’s a list of considerations you should riffle through, before making your next Facebook status update.

1. What’s the reason for your update? – Is it humor? Are you sharing important information for life? Nobody cares where you ate for lunch or what you ordered… nor do want a picture of it. Unless it is the most incredible and beautiful concoction you’ve ever seen or tasted, AND you have the recipe handy, it’s a non-starter.
2. How many times have you updated, today? – If it’s more than a handful of times, then you’re not really cut out for Facebook. You’re more of a Twitter user. Likely you have a Twitter account… maybe it’s time to use it.
3. Who are your friends? Are they real friends, college buddies, business peers, clients, prospects, your 15-year old nephew. Do these people know that you dressed up like it’s halloween and danced on a table top?  Not everybody needs to know your go-go/costume tendencies.
4. Don’t ask for emotional support with explaining what it’s all about? Matter of fact, don’t ask everyone who’s a friend to read your most public thoughts. Better idea… call a good friend and hear a human voice.
5. Are you just thinking out loud? If another person posted the same update, would you snicker?
6. Do you REALLY think that all your friends need to hear about your Facebook game addiction? Color most of them: Not interested!
7. Your guilty pleasure may sound ludicrous to the masses. Even posting about a hip/happening TV show is a bad idea if you’re in a different time zone… you become a spoiler. Stick to live national events, such as the Super Bowl.

Random musings are risky business. Those are for your private journal, not public view. Every post should have a purpose.

People judge our communications all the time. People don’t have to unfriend you to make you go away. They can just mute your news feed.

Proceed with caution…

Andy Ebon
Wedding Marketing Expert
The Wedding Marketing Blog