Shana and I are both thrilled about all the response we received to our first post in this series last week. During the time we were trying to name our series, my e-mail decided to be very uncooperative so we didn’t chose a similar title. Shana’s post was titled Learning to Like a Social Network (or Facebook vs. Twitter) while I titled my post Facebook and Twitter: A Love Hate Relationship. While our titles were different, our messages were the same. Facebook and Twitter are two different places to be and people’s fears and understanding of both are equally different.

In reading through the comments that readers made on both of our posts (thank you commenters!), I learned some really interesting things. Among them…

1. There are things about Facebook that I never thought to worry about, thank goodness. Because now that you mention it, I do hate it when I post something and get no feedback.

and

2. There are some fascinating trends in likes and dislikes. The most interesting example for me is the fact that the people who like Facebook and are nervous about Twitter tend to also like Instagram while the Twitter users do not.

Now moving on…

Our plan for today was to share dos and don’ts for each of our preferred networks. I have been feeling a ton of stress about this post though because, to be honest, I am really not a Facebook expert. Not at all. It is simply a place where I feel comfortable to share, to learn and to explore. Instead of trying to flub my way through with expert sounding advice I’ve decided to do things a bit differently.

I am going to share a few thoughts but then I’m going to open the floor. After last week, I have ‘met’ so many great new bloggers with tons of information to share, that I want to highlight their thoughts and their advice.

So Facebook lovers, please post your tips and tricks for using FB effectively and I will update this post throughout the day with your amazing suggestions.

For now… My simple tips.

1. For me, right now, keeping my personal space on Facebook and using it to also promote my blog works best. There are so many ever changing rules and algorithms for business pages that it is just not worth it for me. That said, this does limit my use of FB for blog promotion. I do not want my friends and family to be overwhelmed with blog related materials. To be honest, this is part of why I hope to gain a greater appreciation for Twitter. I personally feel more comfortable being there as a writer and sharing my work along with others.

2. Schedule, schedule, schedule. I am still working hard to fit this in to my routine but using a service such as HootSuite makes maintaing a presence on Facebook far easier. When I read an article that I want my friends to see, I hop right over to HootSuite and schedule a post. This not only helps me to stay active on Facebook but it has also helped me to remember all the great information that is out there to share.

3. Don’t worry about your likes and comments. Many of the commenters on last week’s post mentioned that they dislike Facebook for the silence that can often come after a post. I know it’s easier said than done, but I know there are many more people who read my posts than who comment. If I ever get worried about this, I simply think about all the FB posts I have appreciated during the day and did not ‘like’ or comment. Surely, if that is the case for my habits, there are many more people out there just like me.

And now it’s your turn. Please comment with any Facebook tips you might have to share and I will plug them right into the body of this post along with any links to your work that you might want to provide.