Guest post by: Nitin Aggarwal
Sometimes I feel stupid, when this wee little thought creeps over me that I am alone in this world. While everyone is going gaga over Facebook and how great it is for business, I seem to be making more enemies than friends. After mulling over this thought, I came to some conclusions which I want to share with you all.
Facebook is meant for social interaction
I like to check the status of all my friends before I do anything else on Facebook. It gives me a great thrill to know if someone has become single all of a sudden – more grist for the rumor mill. I suspect most of the 400 or 800 or whatever millions of subscribers, are doing the same. Now where is the time to look up some serious stuff when you are having fun? When any of my friends want to sell their stuff using Facebook, I turn violent. In fact, I quickly switch my Smartphone off and turn it on only after the deadly feeling has gone away. I simply can’t buy into the logic that you can sell something on Facebook. If you do try selling despite all the warning signs, you will soon find yourself with no friends. Actually, it is simple to test this hypothesis. Just try and sell something to your friends on Facebook and you will find the truth.
The myth of Facebook as killer app for businesses
Have you ever noticed that a huge crowd collects in street corners when there seems to be something going on out there? This is purely a curious bunch of people with no real purpose. This crowd disappears as fast as it collects and before you know it there is no one but you hanging around. This is what is happening on Facebook. Members crowd around a new app, say their two cents and disappear behind the wall. This is crowd behavior at its best (or at its worst). If you ask the same guys what they had done on Facebook a week earlier, they would give you a blank stare. You will then understand the meaning of collective amnesia. That’s why I say that Facebook as a business front is a myth.
The ‘Me Too’ phenomenon
If Facebook is useless for businesses, as I contend, then why are big corporate trying to climb on the Facebook bandwagon as if it were the last train out of the terminus? I believe it is the ‘Me Too’ phenomenon kicking in big time. If everyone is doing it, why should I be left behind? If my company is not on Facebook and I am the marketing guy, I might as well take guard against some serious questions from my boss. Marketing honchos are pell-mell forced to be on Facebook, whether it makes any sense or not.
Conclusion
Facebook as a marketing tool for serious businesses is a self perpetrating myth. Crowd behavior and the ‘Me Too’ phenomenon have together created this huge myth and we are forced to be a part. If we don’t conform we are pariah and who likes to be left alone? Being a part of the crowd is beneficial in some ways.
This article has been contributed by Nitin Aggarwal. He is a young entrepreneur, who owns the company Offshore Ally. His company is one of the leading providers of talented virtual assistant and link builders online. Connect with him via Twitter.
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon