Customer Reviews

I'm on Facebook--Now What???: How to Get Personal, Business, and Professional Value from Facebook

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Even since doing his LinkedIn book, people have been asking Jason Alba if he would do a Facebook book, and his response has been, "na, I'm not crazy enough to do this twice!" Well in his Jibber Jobber blog post, on December 3, 2007, Jason admitted, "Apparently, I am crazy enough."

Similarly, despite the fact that I know business people who are on Facebook, I've felt it would be crazy to venture out beyond my LinkedIn comfort zone. Then I read Tory Johnson's article, "Get Hired in '08: Workplace Trends to Put You Ahead," and realized that I'd be crazy not to. After all, as a career consultant and personal branding strategist, I ought to be in the know about this important social networking site. So, within minutes, I'd dashed off an e-mail to Jason asking if he still needed early reviewers for the book. Minutes later, I had my review copy.

Frankly, my situation was not really "I'm on Facebook, Now What???" Rather, it was this: I'm not on Facebook, what am I missing? Happily, I was about to find out with this terrific book, coauthored by Jason Alba and Facebook expert Jesse Stay. Just browsing through their book, I saw it is an outstanding "how-to" manual that clearly lays out what to do - and more importantly, what not to do! And after I actually read it, I was not disappointed. With its rich content, well-documented resources, tips, and end-of-chapter Action Items, this is a must-read guide for novices and experienced users alike.

Bolstered by their view that "understanding what Facebook can do for you is a requirement in today's business world," I plunged into the first chapter, "Getting Stated." After reading reasons for professionals to get involved, I moved swiftly to the section on navigating Facebook, and felt I was ready to jump in - but didn't. And while I could have opened my account after reading the first three chapters, I chose to read the remainder of the book. If you do not yet have a Facebook account, I recommend you do too. Why? As Alba and Stay point out Facebook is a feature-rich environment which means that it is complex; so, it's easy to feel overwhelmed.

In Chapter 2, the authors discuss getting involved by connecting with friends and by joining groups, and then in the next chapter they move on to commonly asked questions. In Chapter 4, they provide an extensive and clear treatment of major third-party applications. If you are interested in developing Facebook applications, this chapter provides important background - but this is also a great chapter even if you simply want to enrich your Facebook experience with some of the many useful and fun third-party apps. Chapter 5 is a very good treatment of how to maintain your privacy. I see it as required reading - especially if you want to harness the power of Facebook without compromising your information. Alba and Stay do a great job of identifying issues, and include a great example of the initial lack of an opt-in feature for "Beacon," an application allowing your friends to see your online purchases.

In Chapter 6, the authors turn their attention to Facebook strategy. They are clear that while Facebook is a way of living, it is critical to determine your goals to help ensure you optimize your time. With that, they list examples of potential uses for specific groups of people: students, employees, business owners, and moms and dads.

If you are a business person, you will want to also pay attention to Chapter 7 which deals with how to promote yourself or your company (hint: as in real life, etiquette and community are keys to success). As well, business and professional users, in particular, should pay attention to Chapter 8 on Facebook no-no's which outlines key elements of Facebook's Terms of Service, points to other resources on conduct, and perhaps even more importantly addresses some unwritten rules to follow to avoid embarrassment. Finally, in Chapter 9, the authors discuss additional resources; they also provide their conclusions.

Bottom Line: as the authors point out, even if Facebook is a bit hyped, there are practical reasons for investing the time and effort to become a part of it. Perhaps for careerists and business people, the single most powerful reason is that it is offers another way to grow your network in an online environment that is feature rich and even a bit hip! So, if you're ready, make sure to get a copy of I'm on Facebook, Now What???

****
This book is an fine introduction to Facebook for business professionals and others (like me) who just want to stay in touch with people for social reasons. It is less than 100 pages, a quick easy read, with good information. I liked that I could read it in a couple of hours and begin to use it the same day. It is especially helpful in understanding what Facebook can do for you professionally or socially.

I would choose this as a first or only book to read about Facebook before getting started. Although I've been using Facebook for about a year, I under-utilize its capabilities, and found lots of good ideas.

Recommended.
****

UPDATE: I recently read O'Reilly's "Facebook: The Missing Manual", which has much more in-depth information as well as many, many screen shots. I gave this book five stars, as it explains HOW to do things in Facebook. "I'm On Facebook: Now What?" explains less of HOW and more of WHY. If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably buy both, but if I had to chose one, it would be "Facebook: The Missing Manual".

This book is very clearly self-published and, in my opinion, sought to make a quick buck when Facebook opened its gateway to anyone who wanted to join.

Published in 2007, the contents are very much outdated. Many features and particularly the user interface they describe are long gone. The subjects are scatter shot with no real focus (and, frankly, no real value).

In some ways, this is nothing but a list of links of to blogs and other online resources. There is little actual instruction in terms of using Facebook.

There are way too many sidebars from people, mostly in the recruitment business like one of the authors, who essentially gush with meaningless praise for Facebook.

The authors pose pseudo-profound questions like "What are the most important things I must do on Facebook to ensure it is useful for me?" (The writing style throughout follows this stilted form.) The responses often sound like what you'd find in a fortune cookie: "In order to answer this question you need to define "useful"". (The missing comma is typical of the poor grammar, syntax and punctuation throughout.)

Save your money. Get "Facebook Fanatic", "Facebook for Dummies" or "Facebook: The Missing Manual". All are vastly superior to "I'm on Facebook - now what?"

Jerry

I was looking for a short book about Facebook. After only about three pages I realized this book is woefully out of date even though it has only been in print for a little over a year. The face of social networking, especially Facebook, has changed so rapidly that the information contained here only provides, at best, vague direction in using Facebook. Facebook made major changes again to their site in March of 2009, which even further dated this book (I bought this book before those changes). I would recommend looking for a book about Facebook with the most recent publish date. http://salesvitamins.com

I've had Jason Alba and Jesse Street's new e-book I'm on Facebook - Now What?? for a few weeks. I'd planned on reviewing it sooner, but I found it to be incredibly slow reading.

Why?

Because every few pages, something they wrote had me going back to my Facebook account and adding, subtracting or adjusting something.

Jason and Jesse have created a very clear, concise guide to the many ways you can enhance your professional life with Facebook. There are plenty of screen shots and examples to illustrate their points. One of my favorite features is that each chapter ends with a little "To Do" list that helps readers apply what they just learned.

As you would imagine, the book is structured to take a novice from start to finish. So if you're already a seasoned Facebook user, you can skip the first chapter or two. The meatiest part of the book are the center chapters but they are nicely bookended with the intro to Facebook on the front and the etiquette and glossary on the back.

I learned more about Facebook from this book in fifteen minutes than I have in the entire year I've been using it. I learned not only what I can do and how to do it, but what I should be doing to help myself and my business.

I'm not exactly a newbie online - we're getting up to 30 years since I first used email and got on the Internet, and I'm been on Facebook for about a year.

I'll admit it though, I barely understood Facebook until I read "I'm on Facebook -- Now What ???"

It's pretty much the indispensable guide to professionals and business owners using, or considering using, Facebook.

I was really disappointed in this very tiny book. There were more links to information then there was information. At times we are told things to do but not HOW to do them. Perhaps because Facebook has changed. I didn't find enough value to even keep the book.

I was lucky enough to meet Jesse Stay, co-author of this book at GSP West a few months back. He offered me a copy to give away on my blog, Beth's Blog. So, I thought since it was a thin book, I'd give it a quick read on the plane, jot down a page of notes in my moleskin and do give it away. Well, there was so much that I learned that I have to be selfish and keep for myself. So, buy your own copy - indispensible.

The title about sums up what I felt after bowing to my friends insistence that I join Facebook. Now I had read where Facebook was this "really neat" Web application used by college kids to waste their time when they should be studying. What in the world do I need to be on Facebook for? But one day I resigned myself to the idea that I should sign up if just to get these people off my back.

Well, I did but that was NOT the end of it. Now I was getting "friends" added to my account. What am I to do with these friends, some who I barely knew, who I thought would only take up more of my time.

After getting over the reluctance, I began to realize that just about everyone I knew, who was online at least, had a Facebook account. It was something like the emotion I felt when I got my first email account. Now I was a legitimate "techno-nerd." Right!

But after the initial thrill came and went, what now? That is where this nice little book comes in. This book doesn't waste any time getting to the heart of the manner by telling you only what you need to know to get the most out of your Facebook account. It doesn't promise you that moon or that Facebook or even this book is all there is to life. What it does do is introduce you to more options on how to use Facebook as a student, employee, business owner or even as a Mom & Dad.

If you are like me and think that the last thing you need is to read another thick, boring book on yet another Web app, then you need to pick up this one and learn how Facebook can change the way you "interface" with the people you know online.

I bought this title to accompany a research project. You'll find much more relevant information and more currents usage studies on the Web with a bit of diligence.

If you're the type to proactively use Facebook, you'll learn more simply by jumping in and using it than you would by reading this outdated title. To be fair, the book being outdated isn't the writer's fault, as any online business thrives by reacting quickly to its users and changing its service to meet their needs. That said, you're not going to get much from this book.

However, if you're the sort of person who wants to "get rich quick with the Facebooks," turn your home business into an onerous liability to anyone who has friended you, or harbor dreams of making money by spamming, you'll probably want to give this book a shot. It's geared toward making readers the sort of third-rate "social media expert" that people who actually use services like Facebook revile.