[Zig]

It seems I may have to eneter the Facebook phenomenon in some form, if only because matters relating to my band are starting to grow. I have some vague plan about also making use of it to link to my pbase photos and also use fb as some kind of hosting for my own music.
Trouble is, as yet I'm teetering on the edge of the pool deciding whether, or indeed how, to dip my toe in the pool.
Yes, I've googled and ferretted, and have a little accrued wisdom on keeping myself "virtually safe", but thought I'd ask you guys:
Are any of you Facebookers? Are any of you at the teeth-sucking stages like myself? If so, are there any glaring recommendations you would make to a fb newb? Or indeed, any other thoughts?

[shuttertalk]

Yes, and yes! I use it daily, check multiple times daily, even on my phone. Long time user and and most of my friends are on it. I do post a few photos of my family on it, and have no problems with privacy etc., although I do limit my visibility to only people that I know (i.e. don't add random strangers) and I don't post anything too overly personal. I'm also picky as to who I add to my circle of friends - I even think twice about adding co-workers, and then only those I'm very close with.

If you're looking to publicise your band, I would suggest you make a separate account for your band or your public persona, especially if the idea is to get lots of people who don't know about you, find out more about you. Keep your private stuff private and your public stuff public, I say.

[shuttertalk]

Another good medium for publicity and media relations is twitter. It's more of a one way street, where people subscribe to your twitter stream and you just push stuff out to them.

[shuttertalk]

In terms of your music and photos, I've also got a couple of suggestions:

I think Facebook itself would be better suited for your photos - it's photo hosting capabilities is quite good and while not as flexible as pbase etc., it's tightly integrated and your viewers won't have to hop off to another site.

I don't believe Facebook does music though - not that I've seen anyway. Most artists I know have their own youtube channel and then link to that from their facebook and twitter accounts. Even if you don't have videos at the moment, you can just put up youtube clips of your music track together with some images or band cover art...

[NT73]

My only shortish experience with facebook was not very good. I could not get my head round the posting system and walls? So I decided to cancel my a/c and remove all links to me. It seems they won't let you, as I apparently can still access my account. Well I possibly could if I could remember the password.
But everyone is different . :/

[Toad]

Can't help you Zig. I must be one of the few remaining people in the world without Twitbook access. Its not for privacy reasons - I meanI post all kinds of personal info here - just doesn't interest me.

I think Jule's advice about a separate account for the band sounds solid.

[EnglishBob]

Love Facebook, use it to stay in touch with friends and family from back home.

I do however only allow friends to see my information, and only friend people I know from some other medium, that way my page stays manageable and the list of "friends" is easy to handle.

[matthew]

I was on Facebook, but realized that the only time I went on it was to disable whichever new privacy-eroding feature that they'd just added, so I deleted my account. That said, my wife is on it and uses it to keep up with friends and family, so if she wasn't on it then I would have to be. She also has a business page, and that's what I'd suggest for you instead of running the band info off of a personal site.

Twitter is also a very good idea. I've recently started using it (link in sig) as a companion to my hobby review blog. I do even 'follow' a couple of musicians that I like so that I know what they're up to.

[Zig]

A really nice set of replies; thank you all: I had a smile as I could just about match the comments to the poster even if I didn't know your names!
I confess there must be lots of sub-persona within my psyche, as I pretty much identify with what you all have said. I'll keep sucking my teeth but will have to take some form of immersion pretty soon methinks; I'll send a postcard when I get there, so to speak.

[shuttertalk]

Wow, thanks for chiming in everyone, good to hear opinions from everyone.

I should pay more attention to everyones' sigs - didn't see that you already have a youtube channel, Zig. And mathew, just followed you on twitter!