<p>Facebook may not have been started with the intention of evolving into a business tool, but it has. Most businesses see it as an indisposiable method to connect with the 20-35yo demographic. It is a free web presence and many companies operate a FB page along with a web 1.0 site.</p>
<p>If you search for jobs related to marketing, most listings will specify experience in social networking as a requirement to be considered. </p>
<p>Facebook also acts as a way for employers to conduct preliminary background searches on potential hires. I would almost say it is more suspicious to not have an account at all than it is to have a few embarassing pictures. </p>
<p>There may be some mierit in calling FB a fad that will be suceeded by a similar yet superior service in the next few years. But that does not mean it is not extremely relevent now. Having a FB shows that you are with the times and you will probably be able to adapt to future technologies. </p>
<p>Someone said that Wall Street was doing well before the advent of electricity. This is true, but were would they be now if they discounted electricity like some people are trying to do with FB? Wall Street also used Ticker Tape which eventually became obsolete. What would have happened if Wall Street ignored that?</p>
<p>With smartphone platforms such as Android and WP7 developing seamless integration with FB, FB is more transparent than ever. If you do not like the idea of having yet another site you need to login to and check, consider getting a phone that will push the information to you. If you are using FB for strictly professional purposes, you probably won’t be posting/updating that often so a smartphone solution may be good for you.</p>
<p>Ultimately it comes down to people trust what they know and the more someone can relate to you, the better they will feel about you. If an employer can see you have a FB and see a picture of you with your family, you will seem better ‘qualified’. If you reverse that: would you feel comfortable dealing with a company that did not have main media advertising? What if they weren’t even in the phonebook? Facebook has become the phonebook of this snapshot in time.</p>
<p>Who knows? Maybe three years from now everyone with be using a different site. If they are you better be too.</p>
<p>I noticed those links did not turn out how I wanted, but they are the FB pages for The Motley Fool, Charles Schwab, eTrade Financial, NASDAQ and The Fed.</p>
<p>So because I have only 7 post, that makes my comments irrelevant? If you didn’t know this before, behind this computer screen your forum ranking doesn’t matter. This is a freakin internet forum. Go get a life man and stop judging people on their forum status.</p>
<p>And it is ignorant to think that Facebook is a waste of time. Just don’t get one and be left in the dust. That’s all. In 10+ years, this world will become all about connectivity. How fast can you be contacted, when you can be contacted, and how you can be contacted. Not having a Facebook is okay (for the time being, in the future it would be weird), but not having a cell phone is just stupid. Unless it’s unaffordable, there is no reason to not have a cell phone. Also, you people continously keep saying “Oh Myspace came and went, it was just a Fad.” That’s true, but Myspace didn’t have close to the amount of followers and earnings that Facebook has. Also, look at almost every major website that has user accounts. They all have “Connect with your Facebook.” Each and every day, our society becomes more connected with Facebook. It’s already too late for this to be a fad. </p>
<p>I’m not even going to talk about Apple. That’s like saying that computers, Windows, or laptops are just fads.</p>
<p>No one compared facebook to the advent of electricity. Someone asked what if there is a massive sun flare that knocks out electricity? It happened in the late 1800’s I think, but now we are too dependant on the cyberworld. the economic crisis that would result,</p>
<p>Too many people are focusing this discussion on Facebook specifically. Social Networking is the real issue.</p>
<p>To not agknowledge Social Networking as a valuable tool could put you at a disadvantage. Not participating at all could be construed as an inability to follow the times. IMHO I think having a basic FB account, even if you do not checking every 35 seconds, will do more good than bad.</p>
<p>People thought movies were a fad at one point too. Silent film lasted until the next best iteration. People should think of Social Networking as movies, MySpace as silent film and FB as ‘Talkies’. The new thing now is 3D films. Perhaps Social Networking will have its own 3D film soon, but in the mean time, FB is the gold standard.</p>
<p>Now I don’t mean to come accross as if you will fail without a FB account, pleanty of people do not. I just believe that the pros outwiegh the cons, and it doesn’t take much to keep an account.</p>
<p>And BTW sadcollegestud, are you sure you deleted your account, or just deactivated it? There is a difference and even if you are deactivated you can still be searched for. If you do want to completely delete you account, you may have to contact Facebook Support directly.</p>
<p>FB has a 14 day waiting period from the time you deactivate it till it’s deleted. I think… FB does have a link to disable/delete it… just google it. I just have about 20 friends and 2 pictures on my fb… I used to have like 100 pics and at least 20 videos though.</p>
<p>In June, I Posted a video of me lipsinging “I’m a barbie girl” (I put it on you tube too). its deleted though</p>
<p>Professionals use LinkedIn, not Facebook. So, I believe, do recruiters. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been recruited off of LinkedIn. (The prospective employers and/or recruiters usually want me to work in some impossible place like Minnesota, so it usually leads nowhere; but still, I do get recruited.) </p>
<p>I’ve never been recruited off of Facebook. No harm in having a FB account, as long as you keep it professional (and clean!), but LinkedIn is far more useful if you’re looking for jobs. Just my deux centimes’ worth.</p>
<p>AP(etc.): Yes, corporate marketers use FB (with varying degrees of success, I might add) as a tool to reach the youth market. But that’s very different from what the OP is talking about. He’s talking about a college kid using it to find a job. I don’t think it’s meant for that or particularly good for that. LinkedIn is the social netowrk for professionals, and recruiters actually use it.</p>
<p>Recruiters and marketers are two different sorts of critters. Apples and oranges. :)</p>
<p>I think Facebook is going to be around for a while. Myspace was crap. Since people could us HTML, CSS, etc. pages loaded slow, and I got a virus from it once. Facebook is has a nice layout and is an easy way to keep in contact with others. As others have said, it has far to many users to just be a “Fad.” Many social networks have came out since Facebook and none have been as successful. I think this same argument goes for Youtube. Look at how many other video websites there are.</p>
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<p>You can put as much privacy as you want. What the heck do you mean identity theft? The most private information Facebook allows you to list is your phone number and adress, and you don’t need to do that. You only get viruses from using applications, so if you don’t want one don’t use Aps. I never do.</p>
<p>As for your question, I don’t think it would have a big impact in terms of career prospects.</p>
<p>I don’t particularly like Facebook. I hate reading status updates, looking at what applications people use, and my chat is off by default. The only reason I have one is for contacts with family and friends that I would have otherwise been out of touch with. Therefore, I will vouch for the site.</p>
<p>@leolibby You just said that you have a facebook, and that it is your main form of communication with friends, so why are you dissing it? And, just because ebay and amazon are not in the news all of the time does not mean that they are not popular, so many people use them. They are a great resource, as is facebook. Just because facebook won’t be in the news as much as it is now does not mean that it will be obsolete. facebook is a much better model and has much better security than myspace, that’s why it outlasted myspace. I just really don’t see a clear argument here.</p>
<p>To answer the original question: I think that facebook is great for staying in touch with many people, forming events/plans, networking, etc. but I am not too familiar with wall street so I could not give you a surefire answer, sorry.</p>
<p>Okay, I didn’t want to say it, but most of the people on FB are “bots.” Only 5% of the members are real people. I hope this news doesn’t destroy anyone’s sense of belonging. Yes, FB is a great tool. (for me) because all my friends are bots… and they know it… they’re ok with it.</p>
