Tools For Thought - Intelegia

I couldn’t wait to blog on this subject. It gives me a good reason to log onto my Facebook account during working hours.

In case you are not familiar with Facebook, Facebook is a social network site where you can link up with old friends and meet new friends, post photos and videos and create groups just to name a few features.

Businesses have hopped on the Facebook bandwagon to promote their products and services online. As a result, Facebook has become a valuable source of information that is not available on the general web and it is important to know where to find information on the platform. Here are a few tips to consider:

i) Facebook Group Directory - Facebook has a directory of business related groups. Within each group, individuals can have discussion, post photos and videos. Individuals can browse thousands of group to collect information provided that you can join without any problems.

ii) General search - Entering a company name in the general search box will provide you with a list of hits where the company name appears on pages on the platform. For example if you enter “Company XYZ”, you will get a list of people who is or used to work at Company XYZ on the basis that the individual has mentioned the company’s name in his/her profile. (Please Note: I have notice the general search has a bug. On occasion, the tool fails to retrieve some information that is obvious on the platform. Try it on the list of your friends.)

iii) Browsing Networks - Networks are virtual hubs that individuals can belong to. It allows others to friends easily. Networks are created along the lines of regions around the world, colleges and universities, workplaces (companies) and high schools. For competitive intelligence purposes, a list of company networks is interesting to look at.