Business and social networking: Facebook.com

Uncertain and gloomy times breed a communal sense to belong. This great recession draws us closer to one another for support. On an industry level brokers tend to be more receptive to one another unlike in rosy times. Phrases such as "I will work with you, however you need to be compensated by the buyer" have been replaced with "Yes, I will co-broke with you." Networking in these times become as important as ever as we focus on strengthening existing relationships and forging new ones. When times are slow we look for alternate ways to network and market ourselves. Facebook.com, which historically has been a favorite of high school and college students, has seen a dramatic shift in its demographics. The popularity of social networking sites has skyrocketed in the last several years only to have found new life as a business networking and marketing tool. Recent statistics in an article by Peter Corbett show that Facebook has grown by a whopping 267% in the 35-54 demographic segment, its fasting growing group. Even more shocking is that the 55 and over category has increased by 194%. There are more Facebook users in the 26-55+ age category with over 30.5 million users versus 25.5 million in the 13-25 range. What do all these numbers mean? The recent downturn in activity has allowed us the time to explore deeper ways to connect with industry related peers as we try and claw our way out of this mess. Opening an account on Facebook is free and easy and will allow you to connect with old friends and find out what they have been up to. Once you get past the legendary stories and old photos you can determine if there are any potential business synergies. From there you can search through and join hundreds of real estate related groups and discussion boards which focus on just about anything you can imagine. If you have not yet opened a Facebook account you have definitely fallen behind the technology curve, so get on board and get "friended." Lawrence Ross is an investment sales advisor, Manhattan, N.Y.