The guys over at TechCrunch are reporting that Facebook will soon lift the limit on the number of friends a member can have - which now stands at 5,000.

If this turns out to be true, it will be huge.

Naturally, anyone who is active on Facebook has to wonder how this decision will impact the site. Personally, my initial fears hinge on the concern over Facebook becoming another Myspace (a site that has earned the reputation of being spam central). Realistically speaking, most people in the world don’t have over 5,000 friends– it’s probably not a stretch to say that most people don’t have over 500.

This was, pretty much, the reason Facebook gave for their decision to cap the number of friends a user could have. TechCrunch; however, insists that the true reason was related more to infrastructure and scalability issues which, apparently, have now been resolved.

If so, what does this mean for the casual user? Probably not much. Facebook states that fewer than 1,000 members have reached the 5,000 limit. I seriously doubt someone with 308 friends will suddenly get the urge to add 8,000 more. Worst case scenario, the casual user will get more friend requests from people they don’t know. A simple click of the “ignore” button and the problem is solved.

Now, there are people who, for whatever reason, have a lot of friends. I have about 1,200 on my list now. I’m nowhere near the current 5,000 cap but I did think about reaching it, and what it would mean for me. I shuddered to think that I might have to go on a friend purging spree. If the ban is lifted, that’s one less thing I have to worry about.

However, I’m still concerned about the effect such a decision would have on Facebook’s integrity as well as my ability to connect with close friends. I don’t want to have to sift through hundreds of useless messages and wall posts just to get to the ones that are actually meaningful and about something.

Perhaps, in the future, Facebook will develop some sort of priority system that will treat wall posts and messages from close friends and constant contacts more importantly than those from relative strangers.

In the meanwhile, I definitely plan on taking advantage of Facebook’s Friends List feature that allows me to group and organize my contacts. I already have lists for the people I’ve met while doing Internet Marketing… I plan on creating one for my close friends very soon. I’d recommend using this feature immediately since it will become exponentially harder and time consuming to sort though a friends list of 5,000 as opposed to 500.

And speaking of Internet Marketing, if Facebook does, indeed, lift the limit, this will be terrific news for people who want to build and increase their personal brand. It’ll become another tool in reaching out and building relationships with potential contacts, customers, and fans.

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If you’re thinking about doing ANY kind of marketing, promoting, or selling on Facebook you might want to read this blog entry by a dude name Baratunde (cool name, by the way).

Long story short, he’s a musician who wanted to reach out and connect with his friends, fans, and future admirers of his music. So, naturally, he went to the place where the people were: Facebook. Makes sense, right?

He started a group promoting himself and his music, sent out relevant messages to the members — basically the sort of thing you’re supposed to do if you’re a musician (or anyone for that matter) on Facebook.

Well, the gang in Palo Alto didn’t take too kindly to his nefarious activities. Basically, he lost hundreds of contacts, potential customers, and fans. And what could he do about it? Not a damn thing! He doesn’t own, manage, or even work for Facebook.

All of his hard work went down the drain.

Baratunde’s incident shows that if you plan on doing anything monetarily valuable on Facebook, you better not be using it as your only means of communicating and conducting business. The old adage “don’t put all your eggs in one basket comes to mind.”

Make sure you have other channels, beside Facebook, in place. Utilize and take advantage of blogs, RSS feeds, Myspace (try your best to ignore its hideousness), mailing lists.

In short: DIVERSIFY! (haha… sorry, “diversify” makes me think of an old Dave Chappelle skit)

That’s all for now.

P.S. That incident with Baratunde and Facebook happened in August 2007, but it’s as relevant now as it was back then.

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Facebook has done it again!

Today, the popular social networking site released another sweet feature: a chat function that allows you to talk with your friends in real-time. It’s basically “AIM meets Facebook.”

From the looks of things this is going to be a phenomenal feature for Zuckerburg & Co. In typical Facebook fashion, they came out with an instant messaging program that looks AND performs superbly.

Using Chat is extremely intuitive. I was able to pick up on it a matter of seconds.

So what has changed?

Now, when you log-on, you’ll find a chat bar the stays at the bottom of the screen.

Here’s a screenshot of what it looks like:

The great thing about this is that it’s static. In other words, the chat bar is always located at the bottom your screen… not the bottom of your page.

If that doesn’t make sense, think of it this way: The chat bar doesn’t move when you use your scroll bar. It stays put. This makes accessing it ridiculously easy.

Facebook Chat also gives you the option of “going offline.”

Remember how Facebook would display a line below your profile picture that said you were online? Well, that’s gone! Now, you have the option of letting people know if you’re online or not.

To vanish from the Facebook grid, simply click the “man” icon on the chat bar.

When you do this, a small window will slide up from the title bar. From there you can click a link that lets you “Go Online” or “Go Offline.”

When you’re online, the icon dot is green. When you’re offline, it’s red.

(Note: Look at the above pic… You can also edit your status using Chat.)

You’ll also notice a few more links that are located at the top of the Chat window. The first one is named “Pop Out Chat.”

Clicking this brings up a completely new browser (Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.) window that lets you use Facebook Chat like a separate and independent program. It’ll now act like any other instant messaging program you’ve used.

The second link lets you control a few settings like showing mini-feed stories in your chat window. The third link just takes you to the Help section.

What else can I do with Facebook Chat?

Facebook’s instant messenger also connects you to other site features. As shown below, the icon next to the online/offline status image acts as your “Notifications” tab. For instance, if someone writes on my wall, Facebook Chat will notify me by changing the number in my tab.

As you can see below, I have two notifications…

Clicking the icon will cause a small window to slide up that tells me what action was taken (someone sent me a message, wrote on my wall, etc.).

And last, but not least, this is what the actual Facebook Chat window looks like:

Sorry, for the small size, but I think the image gives a fairly decent idea of what the Chat window looks like. Like I said earlier, it’s designed very well and learning how to use it should be a cinch.

Well, that’s is gang…

Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts on the new Facebook Chat feature.

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If you’ve been on Facebook longer than two minutes, there’s a good chance you received a request to add an application (or “app” as they’re commonly called) on your profile.

If you don’t know what an app is, just think of it as a program that extends the function and features of Facebook. For example, the Video app lets you upload videos to your Facebook profile..

The Top Friends app gives you the ability to display your best pals on Facebook…

You get the idea.

Some apps are just for fun - like the Vampire or Pacman app - while others are used to completely change the look of a profile.

Bottom line, apps are a popular part of Facebook culture. Currently, there are about 5,000 available - and if memory serves me correctly, about a hundred are added every day.

So, what’s the problem?

Well, Facebook apps have become so popular, people are discovering and adding new ones everyday…

And that means your friends will be sending you requests to add their favorite new app as well - especially ones that require the interaction of multiple users, like Texas Hold ‘Em or Rock Paper Scissors (which I was madly addicted to for a while).

Before you know it, all of those apps will start to make your profile look like crap.

And if you’re sending out a ton of invitations to your friends, expect to get some hate mail in return.

Those requests add up fast! Thankfully, Facebook recently added a feature that lets you ignore all application requests with just one quick.

But, regardless, sending out a bunch of invitations is still seen as tacky… Especially, if you’re not in high school.

So, bridle your application evangelism and go easy on the requests.

Your friends (and potential customers) will love you for it.

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Welcome to DeonGordon.com…

Suffice it to say, this blog o’ mine is a work in progress. It’s purpose - for now - is to share everything I know about the social networking site, Facebook.com, with you.

“You,” being anyone from the casual user who wants to discover how they can get the most out of the site and, possibly, network with other professionals…

…to the entrepreneur who wants to utilize the site as a marketing platform.

Regardless, this blog will be a place for us to share and discuss the latest news and developments regarding Facebook, as well as tips, techniques, strategies, and secrets for using the site to promote affiliate products, build email lists, advertise services, and everything in between.

So, as long as www.deongordon.com lives, you can expect to get the best, most relevant, and freshest news about the world’s fastest growing social networking site: Facebook.com.

P.S.

While you’re here…

If you’re a member of Facebook.com, feel free to add me by following this link:

www.deongordon.com/profile/facebook

P.P.S.

Using customized redirects like mine is just one of the many tips you can use to improve your experience on Facebook as a user and a marketer.

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