The Saturday Break Up

It's a snowy Saturday and I'm sad.

Unfortunately a relationship I had ended today.

What happened to cause the breakup? In a nutshell, too much info.

You see, this was one of my facebook friends. I accepted him into my world months ago because we serve on the board of a non-profit entity together. He and I see each other about five times a year; nevertheless I thought it was worthwhile to have him on board.

As soon as I accepted him I started to notice the daily bible verses flowing into my news feed; they're obvious because they are longer than most status updates (well, and because they are a bit more pious). I didn't really feel I needed the update each day, but because we were friends I accepted it.

Then, right after New Years Day, things changed again. This friend decided to go on a new diet and workout plan. Hooray...we should all do that, right? Well he made the decision to update us every day on the workout he did (using every character facebook would allow) AND post a separate update each day on every single thing he ate (measurements and all). Sorry...way too much data.

So tonight, after careful thought we broke up.

The reason I tell you this isn't because I want you to cry for me about my loss. Instead, I tell you this because I don't want you to become that friend to someone else.

What does that mean? Well, if your only reason for Facebook is to share your new listings (complete with photos and 1,000 words embedded into the update) or to constantly tell your friends about your real estate career perhaps you should reconsider. Chances are good they are spending this snowy Saturday thinking about calling it quits with you too.

At this point I like to cite the "Five Rules of Social Media" promulgated by our fav Education Director:

1. Be social, every post cannot be about business.
2. Reach out – go out of your comfort zone and introduce yourself.
3. Always write a little note when connecting to a new person in your social networking space.
4. Offer assistance and ask questions.
5. Find and follow locals – be the local rock star.

So before you get dumped...start thinking about what you bring to the relationship. Make sure the people who see your updates are thankful for them - especially if you are dropping them on your people everyday.