It used to be the former for me, but over the past year or so it's become the latter. Facebook's a good way to keep connected--you just have to be careful of exactly how much and what sort of information you put up there.
I find that Facebook can be used as both, its all up to the user. I don't do much more then use it to see what friends are up to that I have not had time to communicate with. I know many people who use Facebook as their main form of communicating with friends. They create events or messages on Facebook expecting that everyone else will use it to communicate back with them.
Facebook is definitely far more of a toy than a tool. It's got a naturally "fun" element to it – you can log in throw some sheep, poke someone, play a couple of moves on Scrabulous, break up with your boyfriend, and look at your co-workers' drunken photos. While it definitely has functional elements to it (I for one use it like an informal version of email and recently I've added a lot more work related contacts) from a business/work aspect, its use is still limited because increasingly it's an uncomfortable melding of one's private and work personas. Although I use Facebook a lot to set up dinners with friends, or to enquire after someone's whereabouts, it's not often that I use it to communicate with a freelancer or to message my boss.
Maybe a better question would be: “Do you use Facebook as more of a toy in your leisure time or more of a tool to stalk people?" Cause let's be honest here, I think most people use it to stalk their friends. But it is information we volunteer to share so that makes it OK right? I would think the time spent on the site for leisure increased a lot after they opened the site up to third party apps. I find most of those apps useless so I would say I use the site more as a communication tool and a way to update people with what’s going on with my amazing life.
I was very weary when the first person i knew from work requested to add me as a friend on facebook. It seemed like the wall between my personal and professional lives had been knocked down. You could use facebook as a way to make and maintain business contacts but I seriously doubt that anyone does.
The answer, most may agree, is highly dependent on a user's motives, as well as the type of network that a user accumulates.
While a user might plan to use Facebook as a tool for keeping in touch with colleagues, it would be reasonable to assume that a user would inevitably include "friends" among the population of the user's network. The more "friends" that a user has, the more likely it might be that playful conversation, or application invitation would occur. Try as one might, even with motives to maintain Facebook's utility, the availability of so many entertaining things on Facebook increases the appeal to be sucked away from getting on, handling business, and getting off.
(Even with all the distractions, though. The ability to go through one's notifications in a flash, allows the inevitable procrastinating that occurs be done in a relatively short period of time. This is assuming one's account is already "tuned", and ready to go.)
With the numerous applications that have become available on Facebook, Facebook has built up its opportunities to be used as a toy. But, the option and relative ease of ignoring application requests maintain the likelihood that many still use Facebook primarily as a tool for communication.
Harness the power of Facebook to get real time feedback from your customers. Use it! Start using the channels that the customers have already created.
Facebook is just a technology set that enables people (customers) to build their own communication channels.
Turn programmes like Facebook around and harness them as communication channel between you and your clients. This is an opportunity waiting to happen - Go where the customer is.
Right now, more of a toy for leisure, however it's a tool since I am able to keep in direct, immediate contact with friends, as well as relatives across seas, at any time (with the text extension to cell)...so, it's positioning itself as a potential tool...maybe we will begin to create project teams through facebook, and simply keep up to date that way, as opposed to having 5 different meetings, and 20 iteraitons of the same conversations or updates....hmmmm.
I believe that Facebook can be used as both too, but I think it is more of a leisure thing personnaly and more for just communication. One thing that I am not fascinated with about Facebook is that you can only belong to one network at a time. For leisure and more specific recreations and hobbies type interests however, there is a much better unknown social networking community website out there. On the business networking side of Facebook, I get a lot of cooky people trying to be my friend that are more of the salesman person rather than a potential business networking contact.
Facebook although extremely proficient in keeping up to date with friends does contain certain flaws. But i mean with the extremity of diversity that facebooks holds i think it need to change face a bit and gear towards the business world. Who needs a blackberry when you have your whole board meeting on your iphone through Facebook?
Well this question is not something to be discussed. Of course the people who created FaceBook in 2004 knew that the communications are not single sided. They include business communications, lifestyle, school and so on. Now networks of this type (face book) have grown in budget a lot. For communications or leisure time FaceBook has $378M now :)
17 Total
March 18, 2008 at 10:27am by April Joyner
It used to be the former for me, but over the past year or so it's become the latter. Facebook's a good way to keep connected--you just have to be careful of exactly how much and what sort of information you put up there.
March 18, 2008 at 11:15am by ravi adhikari
applications applications and more applications! thats facebook for you.
March 18, 2008 at 1:15pm by Nathan Minetti
I find that Facebook can be used as both, its all up to the user. I don't do much more then use it to see what friends are up to that I have not had time to communicate with. I know many people who use Facebook as their main form of communicating with friends. They create events or messages on Facebook expecting that everyone else will use it to communicate back with them.
March 18, 2008 at 3:31pm by Saabira Chaudhuri
Facebook is definitely far more of a toy than a tool. It's got a naturally "fun" element to it – you can log in throw some sheep, poke someone, play a couple of moves on Scrabulous, break up with your boyfriend, and look at your co-workers' drunken photos. While it definitely has functional elements to it (I for one use it like an informal version of email and recently I've added a lot more work related contacts) from a business/work aspect, its use is still limited because increasingly it's an uncomfortable melding of one's private and work personas. Although I use Facebook a lot to set up dinners with friends, or to enquire after someone's whereabouts, it's not often that I use it to communicate with a freelancer or to message my boss.
March 18, 2008 at 4:02pm by Johnny Makkar
Maybe a better question would be: “Do you use Facebook as more of a toy in your leisure time or more of a tool to stalk people?" Cause let's be honest here, I think most people use it to stalk their friends. But it is information we volunteer to share so that makes it OK right? I would think the time spent on the site for leisure increased a lot after they opened the site up to third party apps. I find most of those apps useless so I would say I use the site more as a communication tool and a way to update people with what’s going on with my amazing life.
March 18, 2008 at 5:05pm by Andrew Gooss
I was very weary when the first person i knew from work requested to add me as a friend on facebook. It seemed like the wall between my personal and professional lives had been knocked down. You could use facebook as a way to make and maintain business contacts but I seriously doubt that anyone does.
March 18, 2008 at 8:26pm by Stacey Gray
In number of hours spent, more of a toy. But this is outweighed by the fact that it is also, doubtlessly, a key tool for communication.
March 18, 2008 at 11:45pm by Giovanni Ribo
The answer, most may agree, is highly dependent on a user's motives, as well as the type of network that a user accumulates.
While a user might plan to use Facebook as a tool for keeping in touch with colleagues, it would be reasonable to assume that a user would inevitably include "friends" among the population of the user's network. The more "friends" that a user has, the more likely it might be that playful conversation, or application invitation would occur. Try as one might, even with motives to maintain Facebook's utility, the availability of so many entertaining things on Facebook increases the appeal to be sucked away from getting on, handling business, and getting off.
(Even with all the distractions, though. The ability to go through one's notifications in a flash, allows the inevitable procrastinating that occurs be done in a relatively short period of time. This is assuming one's account is already "tuned", and ready to go.)
With the numerous applications that have become available on Facebook, Facebook has built up its opportunities to be used as a toy. But, the option and relative ease of ignoring application requests maintain the likelihood that many still use Facebook primarily as a tool for communication.
March 19, 2008 at 3:31am by Lee Solon
Harness the power of Facebook to get real time feedback from your customers. Use it! Start using the channels that the customers have already created.
Facebook is just a technology set that enables people (customers) to build their own communication channels.
Turn programmes like Facebook around and harness them as communication channel between you and your clients. This is an opportunity waiting to happen - Go where the customer is.
March 19, 2008 at 6:52am by Rushang Shah
A toy for the majority of business users at the moment.
March 21, 2008 at 9:39am by Dorian Rhodes
Facebook is a great way to stay in touch with peers of present and past. It is user self control that will determine if Facebook will become a toy.
March 21, 2008 at 11:17am by Matteo Becchi
Right now, more of a toy for leisure, however it's a tool since I am able to keep in direct, immediate contact with friends, as well as relatives across seas, at any time (with the text extension to cell)...so, it's positioning itself as a potential tool...maybe we will begin to create project teams through facebook, and simply keep up to date that way, as opposed to having 5 different meetings, and 20 iteraitons of the same conversations or updates....hmmmm.
March 22, 2008 at 4:57pm by Eric Moore
I believe that Facebook can be used as both too, but I think it is more of a leisure thing personnaly and more for just communication. One thing that I am not fascinated with about Facebook is that you can only belong to one network at a time. For leisure and more specific recreations and hobbies type interests however, there is a much better unknown social networking community website out there. On the business networking side of Facebook, I get a lot of cooky people trying to be my friend that are more of the salesman person rather than a potential business networking contact.
April 7, 2008 at 2:23pm by jaymes westfall
Facebook although extremely proficient in keeping up to date with friends does contain certain flaws. But i mean with the extremity of diversity that facebooks holds i think it need to change face a bit and gear towards the business world. Who needs a blackberry when you have your whole board meeting on your iphone through Facebook?
April 10, 2008 at 4:59am by Dimitri Sokolov
I don't use Facebook. For business, I use Linked In and for social news I use www.digg.com or www.subbmitt.com Twitter seems ridiculous to me.
April 14, 2008 at 3:14pm by Spasen Tsenov
Well this question is not something to be discussed. Of course the people who created FaceBook in 2004 knew that the communications are not single sided. They include business communications, lifestyle, school and so on. Now networks of this type (face book) have grown in budget a lot. For communications or leisure time FaceBook has $378M now :)
April 19, 2008 at 7:41am by milosh zorica
up to you. facebook is a well designed platform you can use for whatever purpose you like.