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FaceBook for Pastors: A Couple of Tips You Need as You Post Your profile
By chris | September 12, 2007
Setting up a profile on FaceBook is very easy. All you have to do is go to FaceBook.com and follow the directions from the sign up form. But what many people don’t know when they first start on FaceBook is that it matters how you set up your profile page. If you do it right, you will meet more people, make yourself easier to find, and will be more interesting to other people.
So instead of setting up an account and wondering why the action hasn’t started five minutes after you join up; why not get active and make your profile an appealing space? Here are a couple of tips to make your profile better:
Upload Your photo!
Some pastors create an account on FaceBook and don’t add a picture to their profile. This is a mistake. It’s called FaceBook for a reason, people want to see your face! You don’t have to have a simple mug shot, you can have a crazy pose, an old photo of yourself–anything creative goes, but make it a picture that includes you and shows a little of your personality. Please no fake identities or using celebrity photos—this isn’t MySpace!
If you don’t upload your photo, FaceBook will provide a question mark graphic in the space where your photo goes. People with question marks instead of faces on FaceBook seem to me to be telegraphing, “Hey, look at me, I’m clueless about FaceBook!”
Maybe you don’t know what you are doing yet, but at least include a picture of yourself so people can start associating your face with your space. I read somewhere once where someone said humans are especially attuned to looking at the human face. It’s the first form we recognize as infants looking at our mothers. People love to see other people’s faces, show yours on FaceBook.
Post Your Interests in Movies, Books, Pastime Interests as Key Words, Not Sentences!
Besides your photo, your profile has space for you to list your activities, favorite things, background, and other information. Here are a few of the categories you will find:
- Activities
- Interests
- Favorite Music
- Favorite TV Shows
- Favorite Books
- High School
- College
- Employer
- Resume Items
- Etc
One thing to keep in mind as you write in this section, is that FaceBook wants to help you network with people who are like you. As you list an item, FaceBook will create it as a link that queries the database looking for the exact term you used on other profiles in the network. So that if you click on the link, FaceBook will show you people who listed the exact same things you have listed. This is a great way to meet likeminded people who could become your friends on FaceBook.
Here’s how to get the most out of this section. List your favorite things as key words and not as sentences. For example, instead of writing, “I love French Food!” Write, “French Food,” the FaceBook program will turn the term into a link that shows you all the other people who also wrote “French Food“. Again, instead of saying, “The NBA rocks,” just write, “NBA Basketball.” You will get the most use out of this section if you write your interests as key words instead of sentences.
More to come 
Topics: 2.0 Social Media, Facebook for Pastors |