NY TImes has a piece on Digital Intimacy. Social scientists call it ambient awareness; the incessant online contact provides by services like Facebook’s newsfeed and Twitter. Each update is insignificant on its own but taken together over time, coalesces into a sophisticated  portrait, a kind of ESP.

Awareness tools aren’t as cognitively demanding as an e-mail message. E-mail is something you have to stop to open and assess. It’s personal; someone is asking for 100 percent of your attention. In contrast, ambient updates are all visible on one single page in a big row, and they’re not really directed at you. This makes them skimmable, like newspaper headlines; maybe you’ll read them all, maybe you’ll skip some.

“Things like Twitter have actually given me a much bigger social circle. I know more about more people than ever before.”

I am finding this to be true. As I follow more A list people my awareness of technology trends grows and following local people expands my social network.

There are more insights in this lengthy article. Please read it. I feel it will be one of the most important of 2008.

Why use Facebook for business?

To find more opportunities to network with other business people.

Here are some more from Tinu Abayomi-Paul:

  1- The very nature of Facebook is viral.

2- Facebook is the ultimate in social presence marketing

3- Your target market tells you exactly what it wants, and they’re easy to find.

4- Over half of the people using it, use it daily.

5- Better, stronger online connections.

6- Hard core marketing is out of vogue and declining in effectiveness.

7- Your clients — and your competition’s clients — may already be on Facebook.

8 – Facebook friends are willing to continue the conversation.

Check the link above to read more details.

With all the growth is social media sites I have been thinking about setting up a page on Facebook. I already use StumbleUpon a lot and have been very pleased with the traffic boost it provides. I have been hesitant about Facebook because you can’t see what is really like without opening an account, but that is a catch-22. How do I know if it makes sense. Perhaps you have been wondering the same question.

Luckily Brian Brown has written a good Facebook primer over at Work.com, Guide to Facebook Basics for Your Business.

The whole point of Facebook is to interact with a network of friends. A “friend” on Facebook can be an actual friend you grew up with, went to school with, etc., or it can be someone you meet online, like through a Facebook group.

Browse Facebook’s groups. Groups are made of Facebook members that have a common interest. When you find a group you like, join that group. This will give you the chance to market to the group and invite group members as “friends.

Facebook makes soft-selling easy. All you have to do is post a link to a sales page on your website (with the “Posted Items” application) and Facebook lets everyone in your friends list know you have posted the link by displaying it on their home page. Friends will also know when you’ve uploaded photos, or videos, or changed your profile.

Add your RSS feed to your Facebook profile. If you have a blog, or any website that produces an RSS feed, it can be added to your blog through various RSS applications. This makes your blog immediately accessible to your Facebook friends.

Tomorrow I’d take a deeper look.