The Problem and Solution to Facebook Groups

 

On one hand, you do not want to remove yourself because it can be considered a social networking faux pas, offending people that are potential clients, or even genuine friends. But on the other hand, there is the time and productivity issue.

Facebook Groups are a wonderful invention for the group moderator to have a captive audience, share ideas, events, and common interests. For businesses, it has proven to be a largely successful tool in the arsenal of the entrepreneur for marketing, soliciting customer feedback, and exchanging ideas while brainstorming. The point is that they can be used for any purpose. Groups can be closed or open, depending on the goal of the group, and posting abilities can be changed based on the purpose of the group as well. 

Sounds great, so what is the problem? 

The problem with Facebook Groups are that they require more time than busy professionals have or want to spend. If you have just 200 friends, and only 10 of them add you to a group, imagine the time. This brings up another issue -- people can add you to a group without even asking you. This is the marketing departments greatest angle but the entrepreneurs worst nightmare.

Another issue is that many groups do not give out instructions, set rules, or make the goal of the group clearly defined when adding members. Of the several groups that I am privileged to be a part of, only one made it a requirement to read and comment that the introduction statement was clearly read and understood. 

I have come up with a few solutions to these issues for business people, that can help maintain the connections made on Facebook but keep productivity up and distractions down during the work day.

• Immediately Edit Settings when joining or after being added to a group. This will allow you to set up how often you receive notifications, the email address they go to, and whether or not you will receive them for threads you are subscribed to or group messages. 
• Set a time during the week that you will check in with the groups and like posts, read articles and links posted, and interact with the members. Attempting to do this daily will greatly reduce your productivity.
• For groups that spark your interest and you desire to interact with more often, copy the email address into your contact list for email to send messages to the group without having to log in to the 600 million+ member site.
• Make sure you are not posting links and soliciting feedback when you are inactive.
• Remove yourself from any groups that do not interest you, or that you find too time consuming without benefit.

What are your strategies to maintain valuable connections and your productivity when using Facebook Groups? Do share.

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