In a previous post inspired by Pulver’s I stated: “Goodbye LinkedIn. Hello Facebook.” Some folks, such as Matt Sponer, fear their true self being exposed. I understand this. Matt says:
Hi Aaron,
I agree that Facebook is a wonderful way to keep up with people.
However, I feel that using it for both business and personal online social play can degrade one or both uses. It forces one to choose:
1) A less playful and more distant online tone with your friends and family. No slinging virtual poo with your little cousin. Your personal use of the site suffers.
–or–
2) Potentially inappropriate personal information being mixed into your professional online presense. Your coworkers can read both your blog and see your little cousins feces icons on the same page.What do you think? How will you handle this?
Matt
My response to this is:
I think you are absolutely correct. Most people will not feel comfortable exposing their playful side to their business network. Personally, this is a concern that I do not share. I’m very open with who I am. My professional record speaks for itself. If someone dislikes my personality we probably wouldn’t make a good professional fit.
There is an even more important point hidden in this post. I’m reposting comments that were made in Facebook. Platform or not, Facebook will fall if it does not open.
Aaron Fulkerson 
🙂 It’s about the platform. Also, LinkedIn provides very limited interactivity. I also dislike how they are trying to charge me at every turn. Yes, most of the applications currently available on Facebook are useless. This is, and will continue to, change. To “get” social networks like Facebook you have to participate. Most are closed systems that do not afford you a complete view unless you belong. I predict this too will change soon.
I keep reading a few higher profile bloggers write about how linkedin is no longer cool and how facebook is the new amazing place for business professionals and working people. I spent time looking at and critically examining facebook, their offer and the users who congregate there. I browsed about 70 profiles on facebook. Every single profile was of a 18-25 year old doing Jello shots of some chicks abs. I didn’t see a single professional profile or a person over 25ish. OK so no professionals here…why is this useful for professionals then? Then I looked at the applications and widgets available on facebook and all of them were for entertainment purposes (music, movies, jokes)…nothing for professionals so why is this useful for professionals?? I went to groups and saw more college age kids hooking up and socializing…no business or networking groups. I didn’t see any business or industry news or information and I could not find a way to be introduced to professionals in specific industries. PEOPLE – Either I have completely missed something or facebook is offering bloggers access to their IPO to pump up the site.
What do you think is more likely? That and application built for college kids is more useful then other applications built for professionals or that there is a pump and dump scenario brewing?