Facebook: Keeping Men in the Social Loop
*Warning: Some stereotypes were used in the making of this post. They are not meant to be derogatory in any way and are only based on the personal and observed experience of the author.
Women traditionally tend to be more “in tune” with the latest personal news within their social networks. It’s a simple fact that most of my friends rely on their female counter parts for dating, family, birthday or anniversary news. This isn’t even a generational thing, I see it in my friends, my parents age group and even my grandparents. Due to the rise of social networks like Facebook however, this inter-generational truth is quickly fading.
Whether I care or not, my Facebook provides men (especially single men) with the latest pictures, romance couplings, personal views and ever-changing (often passive aggressive) status changes of my 300 closest to not-so-close friends (I don’t have 5000 like Scoble). Although this doesn’t necessarily provide the depth of gossip alive and well in most high school hallways, it provides enough information that it can improve networking relationships at a post-college, career based level by sharing the life events that connect us.
Take these pre, post and contrasting sales calls for example, here is the single male, recent college grad making a sales call on a former classmate Jill (and a single female Jane for contrast). He hasn’t seen Jill in awhile and hasn’t been in touch with any of his friends that talk to her friends.
Pre-Facebook Single Male Business-Social Interaction:
Jim: “Good Morning Jill”
Jill: “Good Morning Jim”
Jim: “It’s been awhile since school”
Jill: “Only a year”
Jim: “True….. So how is life?”
Jill: “Good, Good…….. So what can SuperWonderProduct, Inc do for my business?”
No personal connection, harder sale, less of a connection.
Pre-Facebook Female Business-Social Interaction:
Jane: “Good Morning Jill”
Jill: “Good Morning Jane”
Jane: “I was talking to Harrietta and she said you bought a new house.”
Jill: “Yes, it’s perfect for me!”
Jane: “Harrietta showed me a picture, very nice!”
Jill: “Absolutely, you should come by some time.”
Jane: “Sure, I would be happy too. I am sure we will have plenty of chances to catch up as SuperWonderProduct, Inc has some products I know will help your company far into the future.”
Great connection, trust established and the base is set for a great business relationship.
Post-Facebook Single Male Business-Social Interaction:
Jim: “Good Morning Jill, congrats on the new house! I saw the pictures on Facebook. Thats a great area!”
Jill: “Good Morning Jim, it’s been a long time! Great to see you, the new house has been great.”
Jim: “I just got a condo downtown, it’s great to own your own place.”
Jill: “Absolutely.”
Jim: “I hear you own your own small business now too.”
Jill: “Yes I do and I have heard great things about SuperWonderProduct, Inc!”
Great connection, trust established on similar experiences and the base has at least started out well for a great business relationship.
So here is the crux of my argument: Facebook helps with social network maintenance in a way that can be invaluable to both genders but, when it comes down to it, men are the least inclined to stay up to date on these things and therefore, the greatest beneficiaries of Facebook’s social features. This isn’t to say Facebook hasn’t caused all boats to rise - it has. Testosterone-infused ships just started at a lower mooring in this case.
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Tags: Management, Networking
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October 24th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Solid arguement. I think that Facebook brings the social network maintenance of men and women together. Here is why: women tend to their social network with or without Facebook, men now use Facebook so one could argue that Facebook helps men more. Thoughts?
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October 30th, 2007 at 9:38 am
I’m a loser
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