Have you gotten a Facebook account yet? We have and we’re thinking it’s a pretty good thing. Facebook is unique amongst many of the social networking sites in that it allows business, organizations, and institutions to have their own page with in the site. LinkedIn is great for professional individuals, but there are no provisions for adding your company — we think this will change soon, by the way. There are other sites like Get Satisfaction that are only for business and services issues. Facebook has had the foresight to combine its great personal networking tools to include business.

Instead of “friends” — in Facebook parlance — your business can gain “fans”. These fans can be allowed to comment directly on your FaceBook Wall, creating a 2-way blog. The opportunities for exposure for your product and service with the ability to send messages direct to your Facebook fans.

Business on Facebook are managed through pages. Pages were launched by Facebook in November 2007 as a way for businesses of many types to easily establish a brand presence on Facebook. Pages are a lot like Facebook groups, with some important differences:

• Pages are more customizable than groups. You can add HTML, Flash, or even Facebook applications to your pages to extend their functionality and the depth of experience users can have with your brand.
• Pages get more prominent “Bumper Stickers” real estate than groups on the profile pages of your fans.
• There is no limitation to the number of fans in your group that you can message.
• Facebook has taken an active role in cracking down on Pages not created by authorized agents.

Pages are a good option for small or local businesses that want to establish a presence on Facebook. Like groups, they’re another way to do viral marketing. (From Inside Facebook blog)

Click yourself on over to the stressdesign page on Facebook and make yourself a fan. We’re good company.

What do you think about Facebook or other social networking tools? Leave your thoughts below.