Facebook: Evil or Great?
Today, a Facebook friend posted that he is going to delete Facebook. There are certainly pros and cons when it comes to the use of Facebook. However, when you pay close attention to how you use Facebook it is the most powerful communication tool in the world.
Built to keep you Hooked
Sure, Facebook and Instagram are built to keep you hooked. And somehow – unfortunately – if you use Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat the wrong way you will end up being an emotional zombie. And yes we see these people everywhere here.
BUT
But there is a huge BUT: If you use Facebook the right way it is a massive communication tool and the world’s most effective platform to built a brand, and audience, and to spread your knowledge to the world. Without Facebook, I would not be able to see what my friends in Australia, California, Greece, Spain, France, Estonia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and even Hamburg or Berlin are doing without contacting them directly. It is a great tool to stay connected with friends. In addition, what I currently see is that more and more business communication is shifting from LinkedIn to the Facebook Messenger. The messenger is – in my opinion – the best video and voice calling tool available (better than Skype and FaceTime). We see more and more business using Facebook messenger to communicate with them. I – personally – see a shift from Email to Messenger.
So if you use the Facebook the right way it is great. Pay for advertisements to reach your audience. Delete all friends who you don’t want to have as friends or colleagues. Log-off from the app and from the web version every-time. If you are hooked to Facebook start using tools like SelfControl who will block access to Facebook for a given amount of time.
Personal Examples
Let me give you a personal example. In 2013 I met two super friendly Estonian guys on a farm in Kingaroy in Australia. We worked on the farm for 4 weeks together. After that, we haven’t seen us for quite a long time. However, every now and then we stayed in touch with Instagram and Facebook. Last year in October I planned a spontaneous trip to Tallinn. Just a few days before I flew to Tallinn I send them a message on Facebook telling them that I would be in Tallinn the next week. Thanks to Facebook we met and enjoyed an amazing reunion. Greetings to Kaisa and Sander – if you read this! Without Facebook, this would have never happened.
Facebook Groups are Amazing Communities
Another amazing feature Facebook introduced are the Facebook Groups. I joined several entrepreneurial and tech groups on Facebook. If I have a question about anything I’ll get an answer from an expert within hours or even minutes. Within these groups, you find extremely valuable content and very successful people who are hungry to help you succeed too. Never in history, it was so easy to join a group of like-minded people.
So, is Facebook Good or Bad?
So is Facebook good or bad? Let’s agree that if you don’t consume the bad stuff, Facebook is a really great communication tool. However, don’t overuse Facebook or Instagram. Try to limit the use of Facebook and Instagram to a few minutes per day. Log out of Facebook if you realize that you start consuming the evil timeline. If you realize that you use Facebook and Instagram only to show the world how amazing your life is – when in reality it isn’t – I’d suggest you to seriously overthink your behavior. I think that this behavior is extremely harmful emotionally.
I use Facebook to communicate with Friends, exchange ideas in Facebook Groups, and to grow my business. Use it the right way and remember: If you don’t pay for the product, you are the product being sold.
