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1 year, 9 months ago via ask.inc.com

Should self-employed people have 2 different profiles on Facebook?

By two different profiles, I mean one profile could be for business purposes and the other is for family and friends. How important is it to keep separate profiles? How shall I go about separating the two after a year of mixing?
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mrcal | 1 year, 9 months ago
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I think that having separate Facebook or social networking profiles that separate “professional” and “personal” life are a good idea not only for self-employed people, but for lots of others as well. There have been increased cases of people posting things on social networking sites that can impact their professional life. Keeping separate profiles for personal and professional connections can help to limit these unintentional interactions. I think it helps to keep interactions with professional connections professional (focused on marketing, business relationships, etc.) and it keeps personal relationships personal.

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Lyn Lomasi | 1 year, 9 months ago
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A facebook fan page is a good idea for any self-employed person, but is useful in this situation.That way, those who want to follow your work can and you don't have to worry about accepting friend requests etc.

As to whether you should or not, I think that depend on each individual person. How personal do you get on facebook? Do you want business contacts to know everything you say there? If you don't reveal anything too private, it probably doesn't matter much. On the other hand, if you'd like to discuss things you really don't want your business contacts privy to, then it's a good idea.

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Patrice Campbell | 1 year, 9 months ago
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I think it depends on what you post on Facebook. If you play a lot of games and post a lot of personal things, you may also need a business account. I just use my personal account and a fan page.
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aiai | 1 year, 9 months ago
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Well I think this is a personal preference but for me, I think it is safer to have separate Facebook accounts - one for business and one for personal use. For business, it would be the best way to protect it or from having too many competition esp. if you're doing online jobs that do not pay you for referring people. I may sound selfish on this but sometimes, you also have to protect your source of income esp. if you have no other sources yet as others may abuse it. It happened in the previous site where I worked in. There were issues on sweatshops. For personal Facebook account, it's where you meet your friends, family and sometimes strangers. So that if you’d be putting all the details where you are working at then it’s not a good idea esp. if you don’t want to lose your job.
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RachelFee | 1 year, 8 months ago
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It is definitely a good idea, especially if you use your Facebook account for personal communications with friends and games. You don't want your client seeing your everyday life. If you can, completely delete your profile, and start fresh. Lock down your private account, and add back your friends. Then, make your business account public, and invite coworkers, clients, or anyone you wouldn't want to see your personal things. That way, you can be as open as you'd like with your friends, and only share the minimum with your business relations. Just make sure you post SOMETHING, because if you completely neglect it, people will think you've disappeared off the face of the Earth and eventually unfriend you. If you're using it to get business, you don't want to be losing friends. Also be very careful of the photos you're tagged in (and untag when neccessary) and don't use applications on your business account - save it for your personal account!

Something many of my friends do that you might also want to consider is using a modified name on your personal account so only those you friend can find you. Many people I know leave out their last name, or use their first and middle name. Sometimes they make up a last name, or use a symbol instead of a name, so only their first name can be found. This way, in addition to higher privacy controls, you don't have clients stumbling on your personal account.

Good luck!
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Liz MC D | 1 year, 9 months ago
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Absolutely... Professional and private pages are necessary... for obvious reasons. There is no reason to have a family page linked to a professional page... Just as there is no reason to bring your private life into work... They are separate but equal...
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Denise Smith | 1 year, 9 months ago
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I do think you should have 2 different profiles. Having 2 profiles separates your personal life from your business life. Additionally if you'd like to share something personal on your business facebook you can. It's sort of like talking to your peers at work but not inviting them to hang out with your friends and family
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Alicia Rogers | 1 year, 9 months ago
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It would probably depend on the business but I would usually say yes they need to have a separate account for the business. Do you really want your clients to know that you had a bit too much to drink last Friday night? Or what you think of your next door neighbor. It could inhibit your business.

On the other hand, if you have some type of business that you want to bring a social aspect to it then it might be fine to use a personal Facebook account with your business. It is something to really think about though as you wouldn’t want to hurt your business.
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Kerry Kauffman | 1 year, 9 months ago
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I think it's a good idea to have separate facebook pages for those that are self employed. I have a friend who just wrote her first book, which will be in print next spring. She has a page just for friends and another page just to promote her new book and hopefully booming business as an author. The reason I think it is good to have separate pages is because the business aspect could get lost in all the information and posts from friends on a page. The page dedicated strictly for the business would then just have posts from you and others related entirely to what is going on in your business at the time. Hope this helps and good luck in your business venture.

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KevinKruse | 1 year, 9 months ago
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Amy, this is sort of basic, but I just want to make sure you know there are Facebook "profiles" and Facebook "pages." My advice is that you keep your profile for your friends and family, but then create a "page" that is for your business. People then "Like" your page and can get your updates without "friending" your profile.

One of the guru's on Facebook for business is Mari Smith. See link below.

Good luck!

Kevin

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