Every home, every school, every business has a culture.  That culture determines how people act and the language they use to communicate. Culture greatly affects employees and how they work, and that greatly affects the companies over all success.  Business culture during our grandfathers, and even our father’s era was much different then what businesses look like today. The IBM style of white shirt blue tie work place is no longer as common.

So the question is… Is it good for businesses to change from their once rigid business cultures to a more relaxed environment? For the most part I would say thinking about a different business environment would be a good idea. People work more creatively and freely if they feel valued, and when your culture is rigid everyone seems to feel they are just as valuable as the next white shirt, blue tie robot sitting in the cubical next to them. But it is important that these cultures still feel a sense of structure and respect. If a company can accomplish this then I say why not mix things up a bit and make the work place a little more enjoyable.

Facebook is no longer a just a tool for connecting with your friends. Recently, many businesses have also added Facebook pages to help them find and relate to their customers. While this is beneficial for a variety of reasons it can also have a negative effect on the businesses which abuse their networking power.

Recently I “liked” a business on Facebook that I am interested in. I have bought their product before and thoroughly enjoyed it, but, because it is a specialty item that is somewhat difficult to find, have not purchased it again. I became a friend of the business on Facebook to show my support for them and to make finding the product easier (store locators, give-aways, free shipping, and other conveniences offered to “friends” of the business).

I have never regretted something so much.

This business was obnoxious. Every three hours, almost on the minute, they post a new status or video or link or something-else-I-don’t-really-care-about. Within a few days, there was so many of their posts in my news feed that I could not see anything else. Easy enough to fix, all I had to do was hide them from my news-feed….right? Wrong. Their next step was to start sending me messages in my inbox. Twice a day I received an inbox message.

And then it got worse.

I was on Facebook, minding my own business, when my chat popped up. They were trying to instant message me on Facebook. Now granted it was not an actual person trying to talk to me, just a link posted into a chat message, but it was enough to freak me out. I “un-friended” them almost immediately and will most likely not buy their product in the future.

So, my advice for your business’s Facebook page:

1. Do not be obnoxious, use overly-creative ways to reach your customers, or stalk you friends.

2. Post things when they need to be posted, not because you are meeting a deadline.

3. Be helpful, but not overbearing.

Most of all, use your better judgement; if it would annoy you, don’t do it.

Food on Facebook?

Who knew! Facebook app provider Exit41 has just created an app designed specifically for users to order food from their favorite restaurants. So far, only 5 restaurants have signed up for the tool, but Silver Diner (one of the restaurants) has seen a 10 percent increase in sales since using the app.

Why it works.

Many restaurant owners are realizing that social media is an essential to keep their customers informed, and to build a stronger following. This app does just that and more. Customers can like items on a restaurants menu, and can share links through status posts. But not only can people recommend these restaurants, but they can actually buy items on the menu. This does two things for the owners – it strengthens their exiting customers and generates revenue through selling food. I definitely think this app could catch on.

Facebook is a social networking site that has boomed in the last decade to be a multi-billion dollar company connecting millions and millions of people around the world with each other and with other organizations. As many in the Christian Church know, the Church has not always been accepting of new technologies such as their long hesitation of using both television and movies to minister to people around the world. This, however, does not seem to be the case with the social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The younger generation has taken over a church fixed on tradition and has moved it toward the 21st century with media capabilities, contemporary music, and social networking.

Is Facebook really a valuable thing for these Churches though, or are they trying to hard to make up for lost time with technology? Facebook certainly has a way of connecting people. It allows Churches to post their service schedule in a more convenient spot and keeps people updated with what’s going on in the Church. As people become fans of their churches, this can give positive feedback to church leaders. Also, many young people would be much more likely to view a Church’s Facebook page than go to their website.

The question becomes whether or not this feature that Churches can use is taking away from other ministries, or devaluing their message. After all, many Facebook pages are updated daily, and many would question the importance of some updates. Also, the personal touch that Churches provide may become less as the internet takes over people’s lives. As streamed messages are put up on Facebook to be viewed, people may find it less worth their while to actually attend Church. If less people are going to Church, not only will Churches struggle to meet their financial needs, but they will also lose some of the community factor that makes up a Church.

Even with this, Churches can still use Facebook successfully. While it impersonalizes the communication line between staff and attendees, it helps promote the Church in a free and effective manor. As long as people respond to their promotions in a positive way by actually making their way to the Church, the Church can use Facebook to grow, especially among its youth which has decreased over the years.

Playing a game, surfing the web, watching YouTube, pop-ups attack wherever you go. Pop-ups are easy ways for companies to advertise by throwing web pages at their users. Pop-ups invade almost every webpage.

Advertisers have created ways to advertise to people that don’t even want to be advertised to, by making links and images automatically pop-up on popular web-pages. Sometimes they advertise free things, or tell you that you won something, or just pop-up with a random webpage.

This is a smart advertising scheme because it advertises to people that wouldn’t normally see a particular advertisement but I believe this is extremely annoying. It works but it just makes me angry. Even the advertising right before videos on any TV show you watch on the internet and now even YouTube is starting to advertise before videos.

I propose that unless these advertisements are funny and are worth my viewing I pledge that I will not buy whatever product they are advertising. I refuse.