Bitten by the zuckerbug

RELATED NEWS Tweets, sexting, unfriended in US banned word list 5 jobs that didn't exist a year ago Facebook, Twitter top list of weird stories in 2009

Rohin Dharmakumar Surprised that LinkedIn isn't more popular among my "working class" friend list?

Rajesh Lalwani LinkedIn is static. I don't know my LinkedIn contacts well enough because it tells me yesterday's biodata, not what you're doing today.

Gaurav Mishra True, LinkedIn has this very tight business networking context due to which you can't really get to know people.

Besides if you choose to then Facebook can be used primarily for professional networking, or personal, or both simultaneously. I think that ability is unique to it. I think that's because of Facebook evolution from US Ivy League colleges where personal and professional contexts merged. And when those students grew out of college Facebook evolved with them, but it has its roots in that context.

Alok Kejriwal LinkedIn is like a large auditorium of business folks, all dressed up and not willing to talk to each other!

Charles Assisi is wondering if Facebook kills office productivity...at least this research says so

Study: Facebook use cuts productivity at work

Survey finds 77% of Facebookers use the social networking site while on the job

5 people like this.
Rohin Dharmakumar There should be a dislike button on Facebook!

Alok Kejriwal I don't agree. I think Facebook relaxes the workplace, making it less stiff and formal. Besides, the Indian work culture is moving from disciplinary to results-based - everybody knows what they need to do. I use it for work too. I link to my blog posts on Facebook and get around 1,000 additional hits. Every job offer I post on Facebook gets me 20-30 responses. I found my current PR agency through Facebook.

Prashant Mehta People are using Facebook at work to connect with colleagues. And given that we spend most of our time at work, it helps us bridge that gap there.
I was in Dubai recently and set my status message to "In Dubai for 4 days". In those four days I ended up having four meetings with professional contacts from my Facebook friends list.

Rajesh Lalwani Facebook has further blurred the boundary between work and personal lives. On Facebook I manage communities, engage with business contacts and connect with friends and family. It has beautifully ensured that people are connected to it every second...I know people who log in every 30 minutes just to check status messages.

Rohin Dharmakumar is going to vote for Facebook as Forbes India's 2010 Person of the Year!

14 people like this.
Prashant Mehta In the social media space, both momentum and trust are important. It's amazing to see people putting up pictures of their kids etc. on Facebook, which I feel they would not do unless there was this trust that Facebook will not misuse my information.

Alok Kejriwal The other day I met someone interesting on a flight and quite naturally said to him, "Let's Facebook each other?" In return he said my name is so-and-so and I am from Pune. Our lives are about people and memories, and discovering people is why Facebook is important.

Rajesh Lalwani Just a few years ago who would have thought you would connect your girlfriend from 15 years ago, family and friends all together on the same platform?

Notes

Facebook was the 3rd most popular online destination, after a Google search and Windows Media Player videos, for US citizens aged 65 and upwards - Nielson

The Wall Street Journal recently estimated Facebook's 2010 revenue at USD 710 million, up 40% over the year before

To test Facebook members' willingness to trust complete strangers, IT security firm Sophos sent out 100 random friend-requests from two newly created accounts, "Daisy Felettin" and "Dinette Stonily" - anagrams for "false identity" and "stolen identity" respectively. In both cases 95 out of 100 accepted the requests.

According to Bloomberg, Facebook is valued at USD 9.5 billion, up 42% over July 2009, but down 36% over its October 2007 peak valuation of USD 15 billion

Microsoft invested USD 240 million in October 2007 for a minority stake in Facebook, according to the Wall Street Journal, beating out rival Google

Only 15-20% of Facebook users have ever modified their default privacy settings, according to the company

By Rohin Dharmakumar/ Forbes India