I joined facebook not too long ago. I am "friends" with some famous magicians, most of them because everyone is their friend. Now I get friend requests from other magicians I don't know. I think it's because they can see who I am friends with.

If I don't know you don't send me a friend request.

As always, I am a huge fan of these sites. They help me keep in touch with booking agents and other performers I have worked with (Or hope to work with).
Myspace and facebook have gotten me a LOT of work.
And...They help me to keep in touch with friends from my past as well as those in other places I don't usually go.
They have only done me good.
So why not? It is a decent diversion that keeps me in the loop.
Gwyd

Jeff McBride never confirmed my friend request.

:(

I just added Gwyd!

I joined facebook a few months ago out of curiosity. I am really enjoying it though. As others have stated, I found a kid I grew up with whom I had lost touch with and had not seen in over 20+ years. That was well worth it alone just to find him again and to rekindle friendships of when I was a child.

I also have gotten a chance to beocme friends and get to know a lot of magicians I never would have had the chance to meet if not for facebook. I only accept friends requests if I know them or we share the same friends. If I do this, I have no ever had any problems at all.

I also find it a great way to keep in touch with people I meet at shows, past clients and such. It has gotten me a few shows from it alone and also is a way for me to get information out to people whom may be intersted in my latest column or product coming out.

For me, it has worked very well.

Kyle

Always a pleasure Vandy!
Looking forward to off board interaction!
G

I was using facebook in the days when it was only available for certain college students. That's pretty much how they made sure that it was "cool;" keeping it exclusive for a little while. I remember the day that they let you put photo albums on there and that's when it became central to many of my friends social lives.

I think if some of my facebook junky friends knew that their parents would later be joining it wouldn't have had the same appeal for them.

Old people ruin everything.

Like many of you, I joined Facebook kicking and screaming at my wife's insistence; I simply didn't have time to fritter away. Since then, I've discovered a whole new business network for the serious pro. For example, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can offer a tremendous boost to your websites' search engine rankings. My fan group offers fans and clients a chance to keep up with my schedules, post testimonials, view videos and chat. All three offer an inexpensive method for sending out broadcast messages such as last-minute public appearances, meeting & appearance reminders and special event listings. There really is a wealth of excellent business networking tools available from these three networking sites. Look a little deeper.

OK, in a nutshell, why not just use regular email?

1. For most people, you can't find their email address. Performers are easy, they have websites, they post on email discussion groups, etc. Where do you find regular people who are your potential audience?

2. Regular email comes with loads of spam. We have really industrial spam-blockers, but still a lot gets through. There is no spam on Facebook, in my experience, and very little on MySpace.

Asking what good these sites are is like standing in front of the tool display at Home Depot and asking what anyone could do with any of that stuff.

I really like Facebook. We have a page for Theater of Marvels. Find us!

Yours,

Paul

I'm still on the track of thinking "Can't you do all that with good old e-mail?"

But how do you find people who you lost touch with? whose current emails you don't have? facebook lets you search by highschool, hometown, alma mater, etc.

Paul is 100% correct. In Facebook, you can also set up a fan page where you can post videos and publicity photos, as well as announce upcoming performances, etc. People can become your fan and be automatically notified of updates. Whenever someone joins, the fact is displayed on their wall- which all their friends see, allowing their friends to check out your page and become fans as well.

There ain't no such thing as bad publicity...

-Erik

I'm slowly beginning to get the picture, now. It's taken me a while, but I am admittedly old fashioned.

But, maybe you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

It takes time, effort and cooperation to have emails spread out in a viral manner without resorting to spam. With Facebook, as Erick mentioned, posts and news spread instantly through the network with little to no effort on the part of those on your list.

A close friend in Michigan had a fan create a Fan Page for him. He knew nothing about it. Within a few weeks he collected nearly 200 praising fans logged onto and commenting on his shows; with absolutely no effort on his part. Imagine what you can do with a focused campaign. Kyle Peron has created a Magicians' Wii group for Internet tournaments. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination and needs.

These networks are a form of viral marketing at their finest and easiest. Imagine a low-key Buzz campaign taking on a life of its own. You can do the same thing with email - but, it's much more effort. Picture this: If you had just ten Facebook friends with ten friends each and each of those friends had ten friends, your postings just reached a thousand people with a little basic effort. Now understand that Facebook friend and group member lists usually rank in the hundreds and thousands - not mere tens.

Best of all, you avoid the reputation-crushing stigma of spam. Everyone on your fan page or friend list is there by choice. They've agreed to receive your missives. If they tire of them, they simply block future messages. Each person has complete control over his or her own privacy, walls, message boxes and so on.

I wish I'd listened to my wife and joined sooner!

Email is so yesterday.

I prefer to stick with Facebook..I'm 41 and I get it and I enjoy it. You don't need to be under 30.

It is great way to stay in touch with friends and family yet have controls over who sees what. Since I have kids of my own. I only except invites from people I know for safety and all that.

Steven

The benefits of facebook

1) I can run events, invite people and keep track of who is coming. This works for both shows and private parties (search: The Catchpenny Club)

2) I can see what my current friends are up to. If someone "is bored at home", I might give them a call and catch up

3) I can share photos with my friends.

4) I can keep track of people I don't really want to call or email. E.g. old school friends. Ex girlfriend gets married, best friend from high school has a baby. It's nice to know what's going on without having to call them.

5) Social interaction. I can chat, play games and interact with friends overseas and interstate.

I have to admit that I am FB curious, but I am afraid to come out and join. Frankly there are a lot of people from my past that I would rather avoid, and a bit of snooping reveals that people I never really liked seem to be vastly over represented, as opposed to people I would love to get back in touch with.

Still I keep thinking about it. I shake it from my mind but the curiosity returns later. I am 40 and only a few years ago I was always on top of the latest online things. Now I feel that I'm losing touch completely. Getting old a bit sooner than I would like.

I don't know... I cannot really picture what people do on there. I certainly don't want to go and ask a bunch of people if they want to be my friend, please please. How uncool. Why do I want in then? The only few people close to me who I know are on there, I see all the time anyway. And I do all my magic talk here and love it. So what is the attraction to me about Facebook?

I suppose I am a little worried about childhood bullies finding me and thinking that I'm a sad magic geek loser. Which I really am from their point of view. And what about the ones who became junkies and so on. Will they suddenly feel the need to look me up in the middle of the night?

Dear Prudence, I need some advice.

Sincerely

Square Esq.

So...if old friends are contacting you, I'm assuming you DO use your real names and a few facts to 'dredge up memories?'

You can change your name if you want to (I do for fun sometimes).
You can also have Facebook remember your real name so if someone does a search
they can still find you.