Scott M. Iseman’s Lifestream

Admittedly, sometimes I hit and miss when trying to identify emerging trends.

About a year and a half ago, I didn't see Facebook as business friendly. Saw it as an up and coming social networking site, and a place to connect with family and friends, while sharing interesting tidbits and vacation photos. But these days, my tune on Facebook as a relationship building business site is quickly changing. 

Today was a very big day for Facebook. News leading into, and coming out of Facebook's F8 Developer Conference demonstrates how Facebook is evolving to meet the times, driving some serious innovation, and has reinforced what has been zinging in my mind for weeks:

Facebook is the new business card.

The traditional use of the business card is reserved for two specific purposes. Cards are exchanged in the hopes we may do business someday, or we are actively doing business now.

My thinking here hedges along the lines of (and I am not the first to say this as it pertains to the social web) how Facebook can create an environment where relationship building and credibility are measured in "trust capital".The traditional business card can only go so far in establishing a promising connection.

As such in life, whether in online or offline professional circles (outside of family and friend connections), it's not who we know, but who we connect with, and who connects with us. Many of us have experienced this reality when using the professional networking site Linkedin for the last couple of years. I now predict Facebook will become more influential to business networking and relationship building than Linkedin is now. Not saying Linkedin isn't important, because it is, and is very useful, but Facebook adds platform dynamics, and communication components that Linkedin doesn't.  

On the other spectrum, comparing Facebook to Twitter is becoming less interesting, because both services provide users unique, and exclusive benefits. To be blunt for a moment, Facebook is evolving so quickly and profoundly, it's starting to blow Twitter away. I mean, Twitter offers users great opportunities. Truly, it is a dynamic platform where influentials, media folk, and marketers can broadcast tweets in 140 characters or less, with messages that can be viewed and digested by millions of people. Literally Instantaneously. Follow away, or unfollow at anytime. We all are all well aware of the power of Twitter. Yet, I am realizing Twitter lacks business intimacy. 

Meanwhile, over on Facebook, where the number of active users is approaching 500 million, more and more, I am seeing people I do business with, or want to do business with who maybe aren't on Twitter or not very active on Twitter, but use Facebook because it makes sense for their social networking and lifestyle preferences.

While several points came out of today's Facebook F8 conference, I am most excited about the expanded "like" feature that will begin to spread across the social web. This is a fascinating feature where users can "like" an article, fan page, or whatever it may be outside of Facebook, and the liked page shows up as a link in the users Facebook stream, connecting the larger web to our own internal online community. I just tested this like feature out with a Slate article Introducting Facebook Social Plugins and really "liked" the result. Simple, but profound, and even a bit revolutionary.

So how will this new "like" feature generate business revenue? It's in the fan pages, and information sharing, which again is nothing new, but the way Facebook is evolving, makes this environment so much more relevant for creating trust capital and branding. ROI is still a questionable metric for most social web users, but this trust capital can go a long way in building and maintaining great, long term business relationships.

Anyone can hand out a business card at anytime. Maybe that card will be utilized, filed in a Rolodex, or tossed in the garbage. But in the world of business, accept a Facebook (and Linkedin, to be fair) friend request from a current customer, or future customer, and you've just opened up the door to strengthen your bridge to increased business opportunity. Of course, how one markets themselves on Facebook is important. Within one's Facebook profile or fan page exists the opportunity to view into a window of what a person or business is all about, and how it can bring value to your organization. 

Today was a very good day for Facebook, but really, a great day for the social web, pointing the way to how anyone can grow and enhance their online presence. I'm thrilled.

And since this post represents the first time I've spoken in social media speak, I think I might have just jumped the shark. But oh well.

To learn more about Facebook's exciting social web evolution, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook put his thoughts together in a blog titled Bulding The Social Web Together.

Do I have your Facebook business card?

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