Blog-Off II Entry: Facebook: Where Worlds Collide

It's hard to believe that more than 10 years have gone by since the final episode of Seinfeld was broadcast. Even now, you can quote a line from the show and most people will know what you're referring to. One of those famous phrases is "Worlds collide." In case you missed the episode in question, rather than try and explain it, I'll let you watch a clip:

I used to be just like George. I felt like I was a different person when I was with family, with friends, or with work people, so I'd get very anxious whenever people from different parts of my life were going to come together, because I didn't know how I was supposed to act. That started to change when I established my own business and began to discover my true self. The guest list for my birthday party two years ago included family members, former co-workers (from different jobs), and business contacts - something I would never have imagined doing in the past.

It's a good thing for me that I underwent that transformation, because once I joined Facebook, all those distinctions disappeared. All of a sudden, I was sharing the same information with relatives of all ages, clients, my friends' children, my children's friends, long lost school chums, and even friends I'd met on other websites who had little or no connection with my "real" life. Of course, I exercise common sense - I would never post anything I wouldn't be comfortable sharing, even with total strangers - but even so, three years ago I could not have foreseen that such a phenomenon would occur, let alone that I would be so at ease about it.

What concerns me is the number of people who share anything and everything on Facebook, and either don't realize they can adjust their privacy settings or don't think it matters. A photo of you doing something silly at a party might seem like harmless fun, but it could be enough to make a potential client decide to do business with someone else. You just don't know. I'm sure we've all read stories of people who were passed over for a job, or even got fired, for something they did or said on Facebook. You may think that no one is that interested in little old you, but again, you just don't know.

Take the time to go to your Privacy Settings and make sure that people only see what you want them to see. Better yet - don't post anything questionable.

I don't know of any other single resource that makes it possible to market your business, to stay in touch with friends and family, and to reconnect with people from your past. Why not make the most of it, and use it every way you can? Don't be afraid of letting your worlds collide!

About the Author: Janet Barclay, co-owner of Organized Assistant, provides Internet Marketing assistance and website services to career coaches, professional organizers and other small business clients. You can find her in various places on the world wide web, including Twitter and her blog, From the Desk of Janet Barclay.

Comments

[Janet Barclay]

Laurie, I'd love to say my timing was intentional, but to be honest, my mentioning of privacy settings was an afterthought, when I realized what I was writing was too much about me and didn't provide anything of value for my readers.

[laurie]

Janet - very timely post. A great nudge as Facebook is forcing us Canadians at least to reset our privacy settings - which is a task I tried to skip out of doing.

For others - I say Canadians in that Facebook was facing some demands by our privacy commissioner/

[Janet Barclay]

Thanks, Sam. I'm glad I put a smile on your face today.

[Sam Diener]

Janet --- I love the clip. Very funny. You make a great point. Sorry I don't have time to start a discussion right now, but I wanted to give you props on the post!