Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

Michelle Martin has a great post this week on Facebook. It introduced me to a new blog, called Read/WriteWeb, which I’m liking a lot. They have a roundup of what they are calling the 10 best Facebook apps for work. In the last few weeks of using Facebook, I’d already realized how it’s fitting into my workflow in ways that no other social networking site does. I haven’t tried a number of these apps yet. I don’t intend, for instance, to start putting my calendar on Facebook, but it’s interesting to see how much is happening, and how fast.

I’ve also noticed how most people in the nptech world who experiment with this stuff have moved over to Facebook. One of my questions is whether or not they dedicate any time to LinkedIn, or other networking sites anymore, or has Facebook become the one they spend most time on.

I never did start a MySpace page, and I don’t imagine I ever will. I was pretty doubtful about the general usefulness of content-less social networking sites (as distinct from those that are content-driven, like flickr and del.icio.us) but it seems that Facebook is becoming a platform, and has ceased to become simply a social networking site.

One of the great things about the Facebook platform is the way that it can integrate online data. I’ve got my flickr photostream up there, my del.icio.us bookmarks, and all of the varied data on the varied Facebook apps. But there isn’t an easy way, for instance for me to see other’s data without actually clicking through to their profile. But I’m sure the interface will improve over time.

But, still, although Facebook has been fun to play with, and many of my colleagues are using it, and it doesn’t take away from my workflow - it hasn’t actually helped me do much work. That’s the next question - will my presence on Facebook help me find clients, or help clients find me? Will it help my work with clients? These are questions that are yet to be answered.