Ask anyone why they use Facebook and most people will tell you that they use it to keep in touch with friends or to share photos. Rarely will people tell you that they use it professionally when you ask them to describe the social network. When people talk about business on social media, they tend to think of Linkedin and Facebook is often thought of as a place to have fun, which is a mistake.
First of all, Facebook has a much larger number of users compared to LinkedIn, and although the environment is not particularly focused on business, there are many professional networks that can become interesting opportunities. Once you have identified the social features of Facebook such as sharing photos and talking to distant friends, you should know that there are several ways to enter into a professional community on the largest social network to date.
In the following article we will talk about how to prepare your profile for professional use, how to find other people and contact them, features that Facebook has specific to the professional field and some ways to maximize the value of these features.
Preparing your Facebook for the professional
If you're like most people, your personal and professional lives need to be completely blended. You share your personal stories with your coworkers, you discuss work and your personal life on your blog and on Twitter, and you've probably lost the notion that your professional and personal lives should be kept completely separate.
But even when they're blended, most of us would like to separate them at some point, so we'd recommend breaking up the two on Facebook. This way you can continue to reap the social benefits of Facebook with your friends and family while still connecting with your professional colleagues.
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How to separate them:
■ Go to your friends list by clicking on the friends table at the top of your Page
■ Click the “Create a new list” button and create a list called Professional
■ Go through your entire contact list, select the people who are your professional contacts, and add them to this new list.
■ Once you’ve done that, navigate to your profile and go to the privacy settings located in the top right corner of your Page. Click on privacy and then on profile.
■ In the profile privacy settings portion of your Page, you’ll need to begin separating the segments of your professional and personal life by restricting access to specific parts of your profile to only the people you determine. For example, if you don’t want your professional colleagues to see your photos, click “Edit album security settings,” under “Who can see this” click “Customize,” and then under “Except these people,” select the same people you put in your professional contacts list. Now only your personal friends will be able to see your photos.
With these settings, you can control your entire website development service Facebook experience and decide which parts of your personal life you want to share with your professional contacts. You can also decide whether you want your professional contacts to see your wall posts. This is entirely up to you – you are ultimately the one who decides what you want them to see and what you don't.
Using groups to create a professional network
One way to leverage Facebook's massive database and grow your professional network is to participate in Facebook Groups. This feature allows users to connect, discuss, and network where common interests unite them within a single context.
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Finding Groups
There are Facebook groups that represent almost any topic you can think of. To find the right group for your career aspirations, think of topics that will motivate you, allow you to connect with others based on professional interests, and give you insight into your industry—groups around these topics are where you'll find professionals you can network with.
Now that you're clear on that, type a keyword into Facebook's search engine, and click the Groups filter on the left side of the results. You can also filter the groups that appear by entering subcategories, including business, common interests, geography, internet, technology, and organizations.