On Facebook, you may already be familiar with the difference between a Facebook Personal Profile versus a Facebook Business Page (If not, refer to this link for a quick explanation.)
In our "business", it's common to meet fellow rescue advocates from organizations you already follow on a variety of social networks. Often there are individuals whom you may not necessarily get an opportunity to connect with in person, but perhaps you've seen them speak at conferences, events or connected briefly through networking opportunities online. LinkedIn is a very appropriate method to connect and stay in touch with people in a professional manner. Another option to stay connected is to follow their tweets via Twitter.
Is there yet a better method to staying in touch with such individuals?
My recommendation: Try the "Follow" option on Facebook (Originally launched as "Subscribers.") The Follow option is a feature that an individual has opted into, so if you do not see this feature on a Facebook Personal Profile, that person has not turned on this feature. When this feature is available, you can "follow" without requesting a "Friend Request". Once you are a Follower, you can receive and see messages the person has posted on his/her wall which have the "Public" setting turned on, denoted by a globe icon to the right of the time stamp (see example below.)
My Subscribers can see this post
I have found this feature on a good number of Personal Profiles (but I really wish more people would turn on this feature!). If the person is someone widely associated with an organization or s/he has a well-known reputation in an industry or as a public speaker, I highly recommend they turn on this feature. The profiles I like to follow: founders and executive directors of organizations, authors, journalists, speakers, publicists, marketers, to name a few. If your organization's founder or ED often promotes via their Personal Profile, tell them to turn on the Follow feature and get more people reading their messages!
Why do I prefer Followers over "Friends"? In many cases, there are people who I have not met but we have mutual friends, or people who know me for my role with Muttville, or others who read my blogs or attended one of my events. I welcome interaction with these people, and I do want them to see my public messages promoting my causes, As Followers, I know they will easily see my public messages, and no work on my part to set this up.
Try it! You are welcome to subscribe to my Facebook profile.
Here are a few people that I subscribe to:
Muttville founder Sherri Franklin
Tech Author Guy Kawasaki
Social Media Director for WSJ, Liz Heron
Vet/Dog Trainer Dr. Ian Dunbar
Enjoy finding more people to follow! Once you subscribe to one, Facebook will recommend more. Get started now!