I know that Facebook can be a big marketing tool (and it's free!). I've noticed that many cake decorators have a big following of fellow cake decorators on their page along with customers and potential customers. One thing that I have also noticed is that many of these cake decorators do not measure themselves when it comes to calling out and complaining about other fellow cake decorators. Some decorators handle it in a classy way that gets the point across but others just RANT, RANT, RANT. Yes, sometimes they have very compelling reasons to put the other decorators on blast however I see this as very unprofessional and gives a bad business image when these little rants are done on a public page that customers visit. Yes, I know it's their page and they can do as they please but it truly makes the world of cake decorating look like high school (not that it can't be at times). I have a private page and am friends with other decorators. Whenever, I feel the need to complain I do it on my private page. I honestly think that this little fits should be reserved for private pages or forums like this Just my thought,
Fedra

Oooppps! I just realized that I spelled etiquette wrong! So much for spell check!

I know what you mean.

I've resisted the FB bandwagon for so long...but finally gave in. I enjoy seeing new cake photos from other talented cake decorators but on a personal note, I hate FB. It just feels like "friends" are either bragging or complaining about every little single thing in their life. I guess I'm in the minority, but I really don't care what expensive restaurant you're currently dining at or that you just did 2 miles on the treadmill or that you don't feel like going to work today. It's all so selfserving and meaningless.

My niece airs everything out on FB. Even when it's directed to one person, she'll post it for all to see. (And no, none of it was directed towards me. I just see it all the time in my newsfeed.) It's always F bomb this and F bomb that....I've politely tried to talk to her about how it comes across and either she doesn't get it or simply doesn't care. I suspect the latter.

All in all, I just think it's a shame that nothing is private anymore.

[quote="jason_kraft"]

Yes, indeed.

I personally loathe FB, texting, etc. I recognize that it is a generational difference. (Or....as my younger family members put it: I'm old).

Facebook has attained such an invasive presence in everyday living that anyone hoping to sell cakes would be a fool not to utilize this free marketing tool.

I haven't seen any high school-ish rants from fellow cake decorators on my newsfeed. What I do see a lot of is spelling, grammatical, capitalization, and puncuation mistakes on posts from fellow decorators. Just because it's on facebook doesn't mean it shouldn't be professional. Same goes for personal chatter on a business page; if I want to know what your kids did in school yesterday, or that your dog is sick, I'll send you a personal friend request.

My personal page and my cake page have gotten a little muddied but I keep it strictly professional on the cake page and loosen up a bit on the personal account but still keep it dignified and conduct myself in a way that won't ever reflect badly on me or my reputation, personal or business.

Of all of the social media, I dislike fb the most. You can tell by how long it has been since I have touched it. But I should keep up. I even have the Rock Melt thing installed on my computer by my web designer where everything gets posted to everything and I haven't used it in so long I probably forgot how to use it. Blogs work for me. My other business website is going to be set up a a blog site. I have found that to be, by far, my best tool for targeting my message and getting up in the individual searches.

On my personal page, it's only family and friends and there is never drama. My kids and their friends just post vacation and event pictures. I guess we a re a boring fb family.

Long before Facebook, our culture has been undergoing a slow breakdown in etiquette, interpersonal relations, ethics, and educational standards. FB has only enhanced this behavior - made it more visible and increased the speed at which we are devolving. Consider this my rant.

I have to agree with other posters.. FB is, in my opinion, a social whine and boast site. I have "defriended" more than one person when their rants and personal issues aired publicly were too much. What kids do not realize is that it becomes a permanent insight to their persona. As an employer I always check social media sites before hiring. If I see the job applicant in pictures that display certain behaviors, they are no longer a candidate for the job. If their posts are filled with spelling errors, I don't want them working for me. So, in some ways I guess it has helped me to avoid hiring someone who can't spell or drinks a lot.

How you conduct yourself on FB does say an awful lot about who you are. I just heard on the radio this morning that FB has become so much of the norm that employers are less likely to hire you if don't have a FB page. They think either you aren't up to speed with technology or you did have a FB page and it was so inappropriate you had to delete it.

And Mimi - you are so right. I can only hope that can raise my two kids to behave better than their peers.

Facebook is like fire. A good friend, a bad enemy.. Used properly, it is a tool unlike any other (last year's Egyptian revolution began as a Facebook group).

Yes, I've seen some displays from decorators on business pages that were questionable - the same way I've seen some posts from "friends" that make my eyes pop out at their inappropriateness. But despite that, I find that the good far outweighs the bad.

My cake business page is a small page where I post photos of current projects, or updates that directly pertain to my cake business. While a lot of my friends have liked that page, it is mostly customers or strangers who found me through the internet.

I agree with everyone here. I do use facebook but I do it with the best etiquette possible. What I don't understand is how people read and write things like this "Howz e1 doin 2day" (How is everyone doing today?) or when the words are so mangle like diz (this) lol Wouldn't it be faster to write something properly? I've seen my younger cousin (16) write with, I guess slang(?) and I can hardly ever understand her posts. I'm only 25 and I have a hard time understanding the younger generation!

Now that is funny. I think a lot of the words get autochanged. It is hard to read sometimes.

Another thing...the last time I went in to get my hair cut, my hairdresser (who's also the shop manager) was telling me that it was so hard to keep the receptionist job filled. Either people didn't want to come to work or they just lacked any common sense (and not just young people). She does all the hiring and she got a resume sent to her from bitchonwheels@yahoo (that wasn't the exact address but it was something along those lines...) She replied asking if she intented to send it from that email address and to let her know that she would not be getting an interview.

It's all about how you conduct yourself.

So true.. people can be so incredibly rude and lacking in social skills these days. I presume because most of their socialization is now taking place over the internet instead of say a game of tennis or some other face to face interaction. Totally off topic but I was shocked this weekend when we went to a salon for my daughter to get her eyebrows done and a lady walked in on the phone....kept talking... signed in and eventually took her place in the chair still talking on the phone. The poor girl had to ask her if she was really ready or wanted to finish her phone call as it is not the type of thing you can do while someone is on the phone.. ranks up there with the fact our dentist has now had to post a sign asking people not to text while having their teeth cleaned... seriously??

Our local paper did a profile article on me. Some people searched my name on fb and did their enquiries. I really loved that about fb. I also post some photos and updates on my personal page too. I have stopped joining tagging sessions with fellow cakers as most of them are far away from me. I prefer getting updates from those I can learn something from. If few people like my page but are the target customers its better as fb is not sending updates to everyone anymore. There is one caker I am tempted to unlike as she posts more jokes and less cakey stuff. I will not unfriend people as they may be potential customers. I choose to ignore what I do not like.