SmallBusinessNewz

At SmallBusinessNewz, it seems like I'm always talking about how businesses should be using social media as part of their marketing efforts (not to mention the fact that it can be used for correspondence within a company as well).

Just the other day, I talked about a recent survey from IT consultancy company Avanade, which revealed that a startlingly low number of businesses actually intend to implement social networks into their businesses. Most (over half) say that they don't want their businesses involved with social networks due to fear and apathy. They seem mostly concerned about productivity, although security issues can come into play as well.

In a story I find particularly interesting, popular "social network" Facebook has recently been deleting users telling them that they only intend for their site to be used to connect people who already know each other offline. While this was in response to a specific application,  it is quite a discouraging thing to say, considering business networking will most often take place between people who are not already friends.

Part of the email says:

As stated on our home page, Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you, not a “social networking site”. It is meant to help reinforce pre-existing social connections, not build large groups of new ones.

The words are particularly perplexing, considering that Facebook itself is involved with the Visa Business Network, which was launched a while back. Perhaps, they wish to keep all Facebook business networking strictly to that part of its business, or maybe, as I wrote on WebProNews, Facebook just chose its words poorly when providing an explanation for the deletion of certain users.

As it stands right now, it seems that Facebook isn't interested in the evolution of its own network, and has pretty much implied that it doesn't want users to make new friends (or business contacts when it comes to business networking).

I am very interested to see if Facebook comes out and backtracks on their words a little. Otherwise, business owners might want to give extra special care to how they go about getting new contacts on the "social network".