Facebook: A Millennial's Swiss Army Knife

I'll come out and say it. I've deactivated my Facebook. Several times, in fact. You have too, haven't you?

But something keeps us coming back. 

The last time I deactivated my Facebook was nearly four years ago. It was the fall of my junior year, and my productivity was at an all-time low. Facebook was an easy diversion, and I had pulled one too many all-nighters making up for my distraction, regardless of the social media-blocking apps I enthusiastically installed.

So I deactivated. But then, something wonderful happened.

My oldest sister got pregnant. She and her husband were living in Minnesota at the time, and though she regularly included me on updates and photos via email and text, I missed the congenial back-and-forth of our family’s private Facebook group.

And, despite my deactivation, I was as steadfast a procrastinator as ever.

So photos and family and fate brought my profile back to life, and I haven’t looked back.

Truly, this last reactivation made me realize that social media is what we allow it to be.

In the nine years since I first joined, I’ve seen the fall of the wall, the evolution of the timeline, the expansion of membership beyond educational systems to over 1 billion users worldwide, and the rise of Facebook as a primary news source, as well as a safety beacon in times of disaster and uncertainty. When I moved 800 miles away to attend the University of South Carolina, 650 miles back to start my post grad career, during the year I spent traversing the east coast as a field archaeologist, and even now when my life is relatively settled, Facebook serves as a daily newsletter, filled with friends, family, events, and opportunities.

Through technological leaps and population bounds, Facebook continues to offer information customized to current interests, while still allowing for growth with recommended topics, trending news, and offers based on your browsing habits.

Every minute, 510 comments, 293,000 status updates, and 136,000 photos are added to Facebook. It is the most-populated social network as well as the most-frequently visited. Seven years ago, my biggest fear was having my family join the almost unfathomably large social network that is Facebook. Now, I couldn’t see it any other way.

As an inbound marketer, it can be easy to fall into the story of the pie charts, line graphs, and tracking monitors. However, every time I open my Facebook, I’m reminded of the real reason Facebook is the largest social network in the world—it’s still personal. Facebook creates an environment in which everyone can engage. And they do.

But what does this romp into my personal history have to do with inbound marketing?

Content, my darlings. It’s all about content. Facebook—as well as every other social network—is only useful to its users if it is relevant, which is why it’s imperative for business pages to engage the user with informative and timely content. Likes. Shares. Comments. Searches. These interactions work within the algorithm to promote content that will keep the user engaged.

How does your business factor in?