I’d consider going to see this one though…

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I have heard many valid arguments for and against accepting your annoyingly-internet-savvy maternal or paternal figures as Facebook ‘Friends’.

And by all means, there is no right or wrong answer, as it is a decision left up to the individual based on their own circumstances and preferences. In fact, many people have specific criteria for Facebook friend acquisition. For example:

• - Over time it has become obvious to me, that some people choose to accept friends left, right and centre, to increase their friend stats in a meagre effort to portray their social standing (ironic, since one has have to sit at a computer alone for extended periods of time in order to achieve this).
• - Others accept friend requests for business or personal gain, in order to spread messages of relevance (pffft….losers!)
• - And then there’s those, (gulp), who connect with their ‘friends’ in order to do a little, ah, friendly Facebook stalking.  You know the kind I mean – the, “I wonder how Sam from my year 11 maths class looks, I mean is going, these days?…..(half an hour later and 14 boring albums of photos later)….Whooah, looks like she never shook that habit of ordering two meat pies for lunch.  Haha…..unlucky Sammy! “.  After all, that’s why Facebook was invented, right? RIGHT? (Why do I hear only murmurs of disdain?)

Of course, aside from an individual’s Facebook Friend acquisition strategy , there are certainly also other factors that influence one’s decision, such as…

• - emotional considerations
• - secrecy
• - guilt
• - geographical location
• - public perception (i.e. “eeek….what will my friends think”)

Personally, I believe a large factor in a child’s decision (and I use the word ‘child’ in the sense of ‘offspring’, of any age) on whether to grant their parents ‘access’ to their Facebook world, is based on their long withstanding relationship with their parents.  Kids who don’t encourage their parents into their ‘real world’ lives, are probably even less likely to accept their parents into their online lives.

Maybe I am just reading into it all too much, and we should all just bite the bullet and click the “Accept Friend” button. But then….what we have to talk about at the pub?

So it’s over to you Dad….what do you reckon about 2009 most talked about online predicament? From your point of view, is the decision to to accept a parent as a ‘Facebook Friend’ a moral dilemma, or merely juvenile concern?

(Stay tuned for the first round of the debate, or you can even subscribe to my RSS feed – as a response from my very own fatherly Facebook Friend will follow shortly…..)

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This Facebook blunder has received huge viral attention from virtually every Facebook user in Australia.  What exactly happened? Ok:

• Boy goes out partying
• Boy wakes up next morning, not in good shape
• Boy updates Facebook status to reflect current physical state of (no so) well-being
• Boy emails work, with a little white lie as to why he won’t be in today
• Boss is a little bit cluey and works out the real truth, through Facebook!

Not only is this unfortunate error forward-worthy because it is a laugh, but it seems that the article has been forwarded from one friend to the next as a ‘public awareness announcement’, to remind each other of the potential impacts of applications such as Facebook on their work lives vs their playtime.

Facebook cost this young chap more than just a hangover

It is this emotional attachement, the ‘this could very easily have been me’ feeling that can push an online viral campaign from mediocre status to huge success.  It almost belies the need to forward it, as opposed to a ‘maybe I’ll forward it because I have nothing better to do’.

To make a scenario such as the above work in your company’s favour, all you need do is get your  brand in the signature of the original e-mail chain, or perhaps your logo planted somewhere in the attached images within the e-mail comment, and you could be set for a very successful viral campaign.

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