Kevin, you can be assured I will check out the links you have kindly provided and thank

Donna, I would direct you to Hafiz’s comment. In the business classes I attended just recently we were instructed that even email addresses carry a certain persona/stigma in the business world depending on your market niche.

Hutch, you are very correct that any web tool can be used to ones advantage if used correctly. However one cannot honestly compare web 2.0 technology, business and teens to the telephone, business and teens. It is like comparing apples to oranges.

In respect to the suggested bias, I still feel I was very fair, more so in that I even presented what FB, itself, designated it to be. In respect to my personal research your point was well taken considering I am not presently funded to hire a gaggle of telemarketers but yet I was still able to provide some validity. In respect to your comment, “Think of Facebook ‘Friends’ as Partners, or Colleagues. Change the label, change the perception. I’d love to be at work and click on a page and be able to see the status of all my colleagues to find out who was open, who was busy, who out of town, etc. Form groups based on project teams. Yes, apps are out there now to exchange gifts, share music and movie choices, etc. but that application framework could just as easily support B2B technologies.”

I totally value what you stated and where you are coming from. That however is the problem with FB at this time. It already has/is already being categorized as anything but a business network on many fronts and with all the social add-ons it is not helping its cause any. It has an upward battle to fight and all the power to it if it can win. It will be an interesting evolution to watch.

I will continue to use FB with an open mind and if I ever feel it can be of value business wise based on my personal experiences both past and present and future, you can count on me to publicly say so without any hesitation.

Think of Facebook ‘Friends’ as Partners, or Colleagues. Change the label, change the perception. I’d love to be at work and click on a page and be able to see the status of all my colleagues to find out who was open, who was busy, who out of town, etc. Form groups based on project teams. Yes, apps are out there now to exchange gifts, share music and movie choices, etc. but that application framework could just as easily support B2B technologies.

It seems like a certain amount of pre-conceived bias is built in to this review. From the initial condescending categorization of Facebook as a “New Shiny Object” to the obsessive definition of the word ’social’ as if that label were the opposite of ‘professional’ and thus incapable of being a business application.

Also the ‘random’ opinion poll of people who don’t use Facebook but “were aware of it and what it was about” doesn’t seem to be very scientific. It’s kind of like asking people who have never used a Mac, but have heard about them, to give an opinion on how well it handles your day-to-day computing needs.

My teenagers use the telephone to chat with their friends, organize get-togethers, and sometimes to gossip about their other friends. Does that make the telephone an inappropriate tool for business? Of course not.

I am on Facebook as well you know. However, I use it as a communication tool. I don’t indulge in all the poking and other silly things. Although if I hadn’t heard from you for quite some time I may send you a poke.

I uploaded just a few photographs….what better way to get something seen?

If you use Facebook judiciously it could be another business tool. You just have to break down the stigmas attached to it.

……and….why can’t we be social in our business endeavours? You take a client for lunch and buy him lunch? Although it may be a business meeting, it is also social.

We had a day of social shooting recently and out of it came 2 possible business prospects. There again it was a combined social and somewhat business day.

Keep that mind open to possibilities….you never know what door may open…

Interesting blog here Allan.

For your consideration in this regard, I submit two links. One is for J Crew and shows how HR can apply itself on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2334232048

Second is a link from a company working with Threadless to provide creative bootcamps to customers so they can in turn learn how to create designs for Threadless.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=11134425383

If your audience is on Facebook, you might want to be as well. And while Threadless and J Crew are consumer companies, I think the application for business to business is equally interesting with possibilities.