Being a social networking addict, I log into Facebook almost every day. I always want to see what my college friends–who scattered to the four winds when we graduated–are up to.
Today, I noticed a new feature called “notes,” which allows users to integrate an RSS feed into a Facebook profile, so that all their Facebook friends can read their bloggings without ever leaving the privacy of the walled garden.
Since I have more than one blog, I imported my Ziki feed which integrates all the blogging and Flickring I do into one central feed. This will allow my Facebook friends to always see where I’ve been posting and what I’m talking about.
I previously wrote that imeem had the best chance of becoming the major force in social networking because they integrated both blogging and instant messaging into the mix. With the introduction of this RSS feed importing, it looks as though Facebook may be catching up to them.
Another social networking site that is working with blogging–in reverse–is ConsuMating. Instead of integrating an existing RSS feed into a user’s profile, ConsuMating allows users to share their participation in the ConsuMating community (answers to questions, entries in photo contests, etc.) via their blogs.
What does all this mean for businesses? It’s simple. As blog, social networking and instant messaging draw ever closer to one another, people will be sharing information about your products and services in a variety of ways. Understanding how all of these services link to one another is key to a larger understanding of the way that word of mouth marketing can take flight on the Web.
Businesses and other organizations are certainly taking notice. Apple is making splendid use of Facebook by offering students weekly 25-song samplers for free from the iTunes store. Each sampler showcases up and coming stars in different genres of music. I’ve already discovered one excellent artist–the fabulous Mat Kearney (iTunes)–this way.
I also recently advised a friend of mine who is running for local office to use Facebook and MySpace to recruit campaign volunteers. But instead of sending out mass impersonal messages to everyone in the district, I warned her to stay small and tap into existing social nets, mining friends of her current volunteers whose political beliefs aligned with her own and then asking them to branch out to their friends along the network.
These kinds of strategies can work well for any organization with the right strategy. We’ll be talking more about social networking and its impact on businesses at the next Blog Business Summit.
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