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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

What would you do if Facebook disappeared?

So, my sister is tripping out, via text, and I am trying to assure her that life will continue but she really doesn't think so.  She's feverishly typing and there's all kind of autocorrect #FAILS.

The issue, her Facebook page and Fanpage were being hacked, at that moment.  Within a matter of hours she watched as her page was taken over, closed and subsequently locked!! 
It was detrimental, at least to her.  She wanted to make a call, send an email, and (of course) cry.
On a Sunday, Facebook is kinda hard to get in touch with, who'd a thunk it!?

As a small business owner, with  a brick and mortar business, she ran her entire life and business contact list on Facebook, posting pictures of her work, accepting appointments and reaching out to other nail techs across the country. (check out GlamNailz by Chloe)

Which leads me to the reason of this post.  
What would you do if Facebook disappeared?  Not if it never were invented, but if one second you were LIKEing pics and posts and then one second you weren't.

Would you be able to live without knowing everything your high school best-friend was doing?  Would your children have a hobby to fall back on?  Would you know about all of the new Jordan sneakers that are coming out (again)?

This past weekend I decided to go through my social networks, like LinkedIn and Twitter, and pull off emails of folks I know (or knew).  I had a goal of updating my contact list, reaching out to my network and launching a few new projects with people that were "already in my circle".  Mind you, I usually collect and then covet my followers and friends, oftentimes never really reaching out to them, but isn't that what these networks are about?  Making connections, scratching backs and ultimately getting a good rub down yourself (wait, that came out wrong, but I'll roll with it).

As I personally phished through LinkedIn, Twitter (all three accounts) and Google+ I noticed just how many "new" people I'd become acquainted with via social media.  Most of them I had only known through the internet, only to meet them in person and feel like old friends.

Hell, I met my husband on Twitter! And being new to San Antonio, I've contacted and been reached by  a ton of small business owners, bloggers and clients via LinkedIn and Google+.


Facebook and other sites built around the same social construct (the construct that it's not who you know, but on which network you meet them) have drawn multiple industry professionals to the flare of being recruited to a Fortune 500 company, getting a record deal, launching their products on The Oprah Winfrey Network, or maybe becoming a world-renowned fashion model.

But, what if all of that was taken away from us?  Would everyone's life still be "perfect", "blessed" and "highly favored"?  Would you still actively involve yourself in conversations with complete strangers?  Would Kodak still be in business (getting film developed use to be such fun)?

What would you do if Facebook disappeared?
I'll wait...