Posted on July 29, 2009 - by rfrank

Seven Reasons I Joined Facebook

If you know me very well or listen to what I have said over the past few years, you know that I have refused to Facebook. That is, until now.

I started tweeting in early December of last year. Jim Wideman called me up and told me about it and said “Buddy, you better start.” I did. What attracted me to Twitter was not that people could follow me and listen to what I have to say, but because it provided an opportunity for me to learn from others. I’ve heard Jim say a dozen times that Colonels hang out with Colonels. Twitter seemed like a good way to do that.

Last week on vacation I decided to start on Facebook. Opposite from most people, I started with Twitter then moved to Facebook. “It’s about time” – I can hear it coming from your brain even as I type. Here is why I caved and decided to start this journey (not in any particular order).

1. I can connect with old friends. Obvious right?

2. I can connect with kids that grew up in my children’s ministry but are now big kids.

3. I can network with other children’s pastors. This was my #1 reason for starting. I knew there were a ton of children’s ministry people out there that I would never connect with if I didn’t jump in with both feet. I am looking forward to learning from them and hopefully they will learn from me.

4. I can connect with my employees in a new way. Our KidzMatter staffers are all (for the most part) on Facebook. This will help my employees see a more personal side of their leader.

5. It will help KidzMatter be a more customer-centric company. Facebook will give me the opportunity to engage with our customers and listen to what they like, don’t like and what they need. I won’t have to pay big bucks to get feedback from them.

6. It will drive more traffic to my blog. This is where I really have the chance to pour into others online. Michael Hyatt talked about this. Basically he said that your blog is your homebase (where you want people to go). Twitter, Facebook, etc. connect people to your homebase.

7. It’s easy. Facebook’s Twitter integration means that when I post an update on Twitter it will show up on my wall in Facebook. Very nice.

Why are you on Facebook?