Is your Facebook feed covered with people you know, but don’t always wish to see?
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These days online virtual life is a significant part of our “real” life.
The people we see on our Facebook feed are almost as important the people we see every day in the offline world.
Since we’re apparently the sum of the five people we hang out with most, and this now includes hanging out virtually, it might help to prop up some of the online friends and people we’re following. These people are our Virtual Mentors, with whom we can tap into their public thought-stream, as well as their more private one if they’ve accepted our friend request.
I’ve used a set of Facebook’s options for years to curate my friends list to ensure the enormous amount of time I spend online is best focused on those I can give and gain the most value with.
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Here are the 5 methods I have found to work best:
1. Lists
My Facebook friends list is one of the most organized parts of my life and it’s paid massive dividends in countless ways. Using lists well and categorizing friends as you add them — the lists option is on the same button you use to add them in the first place — will do the following:
- Help remind you of who they are a year from now;
- Allow you to send targeted status posts to your specific communities (i.e. “Who wants to play a match with me on Saturday” just going out to your “Tennis” list); and
- Only see posts from those people you most want to. I have a specific list that is my Facebook homepage that ensures when I get on Facebook I see first just those I’ve found the best fit with.
2. See First
A new feature, clicking “following” on a friends page near their profile picture will allow you to choose “see first” and ensure you see their posts always before anyone else’s.
3. Close Friends
This most powerful built in list ensures you get a notification every time those on this list post.
4. Conversational Comments
Making comments sparking conversation by using questions on the posts of your Virtual Mentors, will boost that person’s post and allow you to connect deeper with them. This will also connect you to their friend’s circles who stand a better chance of making great new friends than random encounters.
5. Tagging
Finally, tagging these friends on posts they’d appreciate, will provide value whilst maximising impact of your posts. Take care when tagging in the post itself as it will limit who sees it (which might actually be a good thing but often isn’t). Instead, let the post run though Facebook’s algorithms for a few hours to be naturally exposed, then make a comment and tag them in that with a question.
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Being a new year, it might be time to reassess who we connect with on a regular basis. Get present to your intentions for the year and see if there’s alignment, or if there’s new people who’d be a better fit. Who would you like to tap into into and why? Share below or with your friends here.
All these strategies will give you maximum connection with the people you most want be influenced by — and whom you would like to influence.
Choose wisely.
