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Facebook, you almost had me

10 January 2008 2 comments

Elizabeth Lumley

Global FinTech Commentator

Girl, Disrupted

I guess this should be added under Whatever....

I know I have defended Facebook et all before. However, they sent me a disappointing email this morning. Being on the wrong side of middle 30 (ish) I have racked up my fair share of jobs in the financial technology community. However, according to Facebook, that is one job too many.

"Hi Elizabeth,

Facebook currently has a 5 employer limit on the work section. I apologize for the inconvenience. Please let me know if you have any further issues.

Thanks for contacting Facebook,

Sam
User Operations
Facebook"

Since there are various industry groups on Facebook as well as a "Facebook for Business" group, which I belong to--shouldn't Facebook allow more than five professional jobs to be added to a profile?If Facebook, and similar services, want to expand beyond its role as a current fad for university students and teenagers and become a viable business worth its current acquisition offers, they should re-think their profile limitations. I am sure there are a few companies waiting in the wings to scoop up and serve these more attractive democraphic groups.

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Comments: (3)

A Finextra member

10 January 2008

Brilliant blog post! Well written.

I would nominate LinkedIn as the business alternative to Facebook.

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A Finextra member

10 January 2008

Elizabeth -

You are spot on in your criticism. Facebook has a long way to go if it is to move beyond a "social" network.

One of my biggest beefs with the site is the inability to successfully add applications to Facebook pages (as opposed to profiles), even when these apps are listed under "Applications . . . For Pages" in the app listing. Again, this speaks to an apparent lack of focus on expanding the user base to include businesses and professionals (a la LinkedIn). The problem perpetuates an unfortunate cycle: businesses are reluctant to join up as the number of business-friendly apps available is minimal, developers are reluctant to create them since there are a minimal number of business users (and they won't load on pages anyway), etc.

For all its faults, however, I do believe there is promise.

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Elizabeth Lumley Global FinTech Commentator at Girl, Disrupted

Author 11 January 2008

Yes, Facebook does seem to be walking a thin line. While I have managed to refrain from posting pictures of myself in a bikini on my profile, the site does offer silly social things like 'SuperPoke' and Movie quizzes.

My Linkin profile is all just business.

However, I have had a number of headhunters contact me through Facebook. So it does have potential. I agree with you that the kinks on Facebook will be probably be worked out soon.

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