Why are vendors and organizations using Facebook for professional
use? I am seeing this more and more often.
Our use of Facebook is experimental at this stage... We are trying it
for several reasons. First, because I (and a LOT of other people) do
use Facebook socially, so I (and a LOT of other people) are somewhat
familiar with it.
Second, it is a very convenient way for us to "push" information and
for interested recipients to receive that information...
* Recipients (customers, usually but anyone actually) can opt in
or opt out of our posts by "liking" or "unliking" (awful terms!) our
ColeSoft page.
* So the recipient list is self-selecting. We don't have to maintain it.
* In fact, we do not have (and there is no way we could have) a
complete list of people who use z/XDC and are interested in its
developments. Our Facebook page gives such unknown people an easy way
to stay abreast of z/XDC developments if they choose to.
* Recipients can react to our announcements or even create their
own postings there, so the Facebook page can also serve us as a product forum.
* Posting information on Facebook does not require web
programming skills, so it widens the range of people here at ColeSoft
that can be assigned to maintain the presence.
Third, this kind of posting does not appear at our website because
customers don't frequent colesoft.com anywhere near as much as they
frequent social websites, especially Facebook. So only the most
important information goes there.
But we do have access to LinkedIn (as of "yesterday", anyway).
I prefer Facebook over LinkedIn simply because I don't use LinkedIn,
don't know how to use LinkedIn and have no interest in learning
LinkedIn. Why? Primarily because it seems to me to be just a
redundancy to Facebook. And more people use Facebook than LinkedIn,
so why bother?
And no, I'm not going to give Facebook my details just to chase down
company announcements.
About the only real information you have to give Facebook is an
eaddress. There is nothing else that they require you to give.
I'm not a z/XDC user, but I didn't see the information on your web
site. At least not in any obvious place.
Customers know to look in our Support area for maintenance details.
My Facebook post contains additional prose regarding the fixes.
I'm not a z/XDC customer either, but if I was I would consider this
to be a problem. I do not use Facebook and I have no intention to do so.
Major announcements will still find a place at our website and a
brief mention in IBM-MAIN and ASSEMBLER-LIST.
By definition, it [Facebook] is primarily used for networking with
friends, not professional contacts. You're posts are an exception.
Ummm, I find that a very large number of both local and national
businesses have growing Facebook presences. So I don't agree that my
posts are an exception. After all, if "half a billion" people are
"on Facebook", then by definition(!), that's where your customers are...
Personally, I use Facebook more to keep up with local (Nelson County)
events than for following friends...
Dave Cole REPLY TO: dbc...@colesoft.com
ColeSoft Marketing WEB PAGE: http://www.colesoft.com
736 Fox Hollow Road VOICE: 540-456-8536
Afton, VA 22920 FAX: 540-456-6658
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