This is somewhat cross-posted from another blog I write for PSH, but edited somewhat. I want to try to keep up with this at least here. I googled “blog topics” and found this website – chrisbrogan.com and this article that he wrote about blog topics, including a list of 100 things to write about. I am going to try to do them all, starting with number 1. Hopefully I’ll be able to do them all. I will tag these “chris brogan” and “chris brogan blog topics”.

First topic – How I Use Facebook.

I started using facebook about 3 years ago when I first came to Penn State Harrisburg and joined Lion Ambassadors. One of the get to know you activities was to find each other on facebook, so I had to create one.  I found it to be really neat, and it seemed to lean more towards being useful than just being fun. So the first group of friends I had on there were my fellow LAmbs. Throughout the year facebook was used to create groups for some committees and advertise events using the events feature (which allows people to respond with whether they are coming or not). I still use the groups and events features for boobies ball (which I am in charge of).

I have found a lot more people, former classmates, new classmates, friends, family, etc and a lot of people have found me. Just a few months ago, someone from my high school who is in charge of our reunion found me. And through her, people she had already found were then able to find me. Our 10 year reunion should have been last year, but before using the internet it was hard for her to track people down just using the yearbook and people she still kept in touch with. The last time I saw the “mia” list, it was down to 15 or so people, which is really good. Thats the power of facebook.. and persistance… and networking.

I’d like to say its all academic and networking, but its not. If you ask someone what they look at most on facebook, you’ll get one of two common answers – status updates and photos. These are my two favorites. Status updates can be entertaining. Photos, well, the comments or captions can be entertaining. And its always nice to see what people look like that I haven’t seen in 11 years or more. Its also an easy way to share pictures from club events. Since I  manage the websites for the 2 clubs I am in, I always want pictures but don’t always remember to take them or get enough variety. So, I have an agreement with one of the members of Lion Ambassadors who is the “historian” therefore takes LOTS of pictures of EVERYTHING, that when she posts them to facebook I will steal.. um.. borrow.. and put them on our website (and totally credit her!)

There are also tons of apps and games out there, I get requests every day for different things. There are only certain ones that I use though. Right now I’m kinda hooked on Farm Town (if you have it, neighbor me!), its this little game that lets you plow fields and plant seeds and harvest crops to earn fake money to buy more seeds for your farm and other goodies. You can also send gifts (of plants, trees, animals, etc) to your friends or neighbors in Farm Town. Its silly, but fun. I also use Pieces of Flair, which are buttons that display on a “cloth” in the sidebar of your profile. Most of my flair is twilight related or harry potter, some penn state, some baseball, lol thats fun too.. I haven’t looked recently for any new flair, I should do that. There are some harry potter apps there somewhere on my profile, under the “boxes” tab. I liked this update (when they added tabs) because it neatens up the front page of the profile.. where the wall is and all the messages people leave you. There is also an app for courses that I try to keep updated, in case any of my classmates use facebook I’ll be able to add them – its always nice to have a classmate just a click and a facebook message away.

There are a bunch of “fan” pages too, where you can become a fan of things or people. I am a fan of a bunch of things/people. Some of them totally real or realistic, other things kind of silly. But, its nice to meet other fans. My aunt, who is an author (Isilwath) uses a fan page to promote her book, and give updates to her fans. Its awesome.

So that is how I use facebook – to keep in touch with people, to find people, and for entertainment.

To find me on facebook, click here.