# The Book Of Faces...

- Site: Analog Industries
- Author: Chris Randall
- Date: 2009-07-17
- URL: https://analogindustries.com/2009/07/the-book-of-faces/

I finally bowed to peer pressure (well, family pressure, more to the point) and opened a Facebook account. My justification for not doing so, which has served me well since the service's inception, was as follows:

I (for all intents and purposes, and in a meta sense) make my living by generating content for the Internet. Facebook seemed to me to be designed for people that want to limit the content they generate to a select group of people they already know. I, on the other hand, have no desire to limit the viewership of the content I generate.

(And also, I could give a flying fuck about the people I went to high school with, the most of which are beer-drinking, wife-beating, NASCAR-watching, sheep-fucking Republicans. So there's that.)

Anyhow, I gave in and went ahead and signed up. Aside from the fact that my friend requests since I've done so are nearly uniformly people that have played in my band over the years, I'm still not entirely sure the service has any point, from an "I make my living making bytes" perspective.

So, I put the question to you, dear readers. How does one utilize the Book Of Faces from a performing musician's perspective? Other than telling your friends and acquaintances about shows and albums upcoming, is there a layer of networking of which I'm unaware?

## Comments (10)

**shamann** (2009-07-17):

I cancelled my account after a month, so I have no secrets of The Book Of Faces to tell.

My friends use it for organizing sporadic get-togethers, which was the main reason for me to join. But I don't really need that info broadcast to everyone I know, and I'd rather they contact me through email, as I'm generally used to searching in my inbox for such info as where we are going to meet.

I think Facebook is the Internet for people who don't really like the Internet. I love the Internet, so I don't think I was ever its target market.

**bryantewell** (2009-07-17):

well it started out as a networking tool for college students, and in that regard it serves its purpose really well. Lots of parties and etc. are advertised on facebook, and therefore it makes it easier to know what's going on over the weekend. Other than that, probably not.

**seancostello** (2009-07-17):

Facebook is a good way of feeling like you are keeping up with old friends that you don't really keep up with anymore. You can feel like you are part of their lives, without the actual talking to each other part. Of course, you don't learn that much, as the posts have to be palatable to everyone of the people you are connected to, so there is a lot of self-censorship with most people who aren't total narcissists.

For music? Haven't seen any real functions yet. There are fan pages for bands, but I haven't found this to be useful - I don't know when the bands are going on tour just because I am their fan.

It seems like MySpace is still the big network for musicians, LinkedIn for "professionals," and Facebook for old friends and family members.

**musicmachinemaker** (2009-07-17):

you could put up a "fanpage" or whatever for your projects and let people know when u're about to perform or anything else...

It's just a tool like compuserve... not knowing that there is a world wide web outside the compuserve forum medium and that bands actually do have specialized personal band sites which give more info than facebook.

I should also check out bandcamp...

if you see a big facebook coffeemug with a K on it... that's me.

**noisetheorem** (2009-07-17):

Facebook is basically myspace, but it wasnt programmed by a bunch of blind monkeys on meth. I also prefer it to myspace if only because their system cuts down on random friend requests. all of the friends I have on FB are actually people that I have (at one time or another) had a real world association with.

As for as musician uses, my band and I use it for communication and collaboration. Why dont we just use e-mail for that? because when I send a private message to all three of them and one of them replies, we ALL see the thread in ORDER that it was received and we are all on the same page. When we tried to work via e-mail, the threads just got to hard to follow with certain people (less connected than I am) missing earlier posts. Now, for this purpose I *could* setup my own website with forum software and get them all into it...but...why? Sure, yeah, FB supposedly owns our conversations. But really, I dont think us arguing the finer points of how compressed the 808 sounds on our latest track is going to be of much value to anyone ever.

oh, and I have to add that when the same people who broke into my gym locker to piss on my clothes find me on FB and ask to be my friend I *always* accept. The best revenge is to live well, after all, and the fact that I make a decent living doing something I throughly enjoy while they live in a house with wheels and have been unemployed for 16 years while pumping out 3 kids with different mothers is just the best revenge of all.

**nwilhelmy** (2009-07-17):

Facebook is just one more avenue to connect to people with. It has come in handy on a few occasions for my nonprofit, but it certainly didn't revolutionize the way we recruit volunteers.

That said, creating a band or product page takes about fifteen minutes, and updating them with news, mp3s, and tour announcements requires very little time and absolutely no skill. Like Myspace or Twitter, as long as you think for a moment before you post something, it can't really hurt your brand.

**33degrees** (2009-07-17):

I use it basically as an extension of twitter; I accept invitations from anybody who asks, most of whom are fans, and then I use an app to synchronize my facebook status to my tweets. I've made a filter containing the people I'm actually friends with, and set that to my default, so I only see the status updates I care about.

It works great for me, as I treat it as just another way to reach fans; I just wish there was a way to completely disable event/group/fan page invites.

Needless to say, I don't have any personal info on there.

**arphaus** (2009-07-17):

I don't see how a page is a necessary add-on to a band website or blog. For the most part, Fb is about people you know or have known, and peeps who appreciate your music or programming are mostly strangers in the traditional sense of the word. If someone really gives a shit about your music, they'll check your website or subscribe to your rss.

otoh, if some old sheepfucking former classmate wants to be a fan and doesn't know wtf rss is, then maybe a page would be a good idea.

(for the record, my feeling on Fb is 'meh,' though I admit to enjoying seeing pictures of myself from high school)

**parke02** (2009-07-17):

Social Networking is an invaluable tool for musicians, particularly independent and new.

Social networking lets you easily maintain weak ties with people you may never have been in contact with anyways. The type of people you might exchange a couple words with if you happened to bump into eachother but likely would never seee otherwise.

You rarely discover anything new or unique among your strong ties, i.e. close friends and family, seeing as how you hear from them frequently and generally either share the same interests or have decided that you do or do not share the same taste in interests.

Creating a fanpage is one of the many great ways to expose your music to somebody who may have never otherwise.

E.g. bob in buttcrack Ohio loves electronic music but only listens to daft punk and other popular acts b/c that's predominantly what he's been exposed through via his strong ties. Logged into Facebook, he notices that for the 2nd time this week, a "friend" that he had a cpl drinks with YEARS ago has become a fan of rt60. He decides to check your fan page out -> myspace or other music page -> becomes your biggest fan ever

**Chris Randall** (2009-07-17):

I think parke02 has a very valid point.

-CR