Facebook is intended primarily for people who already know each other in real life. Of course the site encourages people to make new friends, but it prefers them to do this via the networks they're already connected to. So, if you send out lots of friend requests in a short period of time, and to people you have no shared connections with already, you might have a temporary block placed on your account.

Facebook's structural problem

Now if you want to use Facebook to connect with new people all over the world on the basis of a shared interest, obviously this aspect is a bit of an obstacle. If your current Facebook friends don't share your interests -- and often they don't, since they're usually relatives, work colleagues and old school mates -- how are you going to friend new people who do?

Numerous groups for every interest

That's where Facebook groups come in. There are numerous active ones on just about any subject you can name. If you join many of them and interact with lots of different people, you're sure to find some you feel a sense of rapport with. Then after a little while you can send them a friend request.

They are much more likely to accept than if they had no idea who you were. By doing this you won't risk getting your account blocked. But it's still a good idea to only send these requests out occasionally. (You can also use this approach with Linkedin. The groups there are an excellent way to get on the radar of lots of new people then make connections with them afterwards.)

Create and use lists

As you build your network of friends on Facebook you can create lists for different interests. So if you have a blog post about blogging, for instance, you can share it with that list only. You're sure to get a good proportion of your network clicking on it.

If you have a Facebook page for an interest that you want to start promoting, you can send those friends who share it a request to like it. Again, since you've preselected them on the basis of their interest, and also got to know them a little, they are much more likely to agree to the request.

This method can be useful, particularly if you've only just started a new Facebook page. After all, it can be hard going getting those likes at the beginning, particularly if it's in a saturated niche.

It's interesting that the "like" is a key element in the world of Facebook. In a specific sense it means endorsing or approving something. As applied to a Facebook Page it means that you are making contact with it, subscribing to it in a way. And in a general (and very obvious) way, liking on Facebook means what it does in the traditional sense. You just, well, like it (d'oh!) Needless to say, the more you are liked on Facebook, the more your presence spreads.

This has ramifications for how you use it, particularly if you are promoting products and services. If this is your aim, you should hold back on the overt promotion. After all, in both online and offline situations people don't like hard selling -- particularly if it occurs in a primarily social setting.

It helps to imagine going to some real-life offline social event. If you did that, you'd want to make a good impression by being an interesting and polite conversationalist. You would always reply to questions asked of you. You would be helpful. You would mingle. And you would only start to endorse things if they were in the context of the conversations you were having.

A recent personal example comes to mind: While at a Christmas party I got chatting to a relative about health. Turned out we had similar issues. After a few minutes conversation I recommended a naturopath I'd been seeing and she wrote down the name of a particular herbal product that worked for her.

I think promoting on Facebook works best if it's carried out in a similar manner. You've got to socialize with people first, get to know them a little. Develop some rapport so that they like you (and vice versa). Then let the promotion and selling develop organically and in context.

Just as with Disqus, I keep seeing more and more blogs with Facebook comments installed, often in combination with CommentLuv.

There are advantages for bloggers who install this system. Firstly, because Facebook is so hugely popular, prospective commenters are often already logged into the site. So they don't have to fill in the comment form. It's just a little thing but it makes commenting a bit more likely.

Then there's the fact that it reduces spam, and perhaps abusive comments as well. Because most people on FB use their real identities and these are what they'll be using when commenting, they are more aware of how they present themselves.

They're worth keeping an eye out for if you are a blogger wishing to comment as well. If you are logged in as your Facebook Page not only will your comment appear in the thread of that particular blog post but it will also appear as an update on your Page as well, along with a link to that blog post and an image from it (if there is one for Faceook to grab). So you're effectively getting "two for the price of one". 

One of the best ways to promote your Facebook Page is to like others as your Page and contribute to them. They have to be set up to allow you to post stuff, of course. So look for the empty box with "write something" at the top when you view them. If you then like the Page, you'll be able to post your thoughts.

Of course you can just say something nice, like "great content" or whatever. But it's better to add a tip, a thought, or even a link to one of your own blog posts if it's appropriate. Some admins might consider this a bit spammy and take it down, but that's very unlikely if it's related to the Page content. But generally speaking, admins tend to appreciate quality, relevant links and will often like them, say thanks, or even like your Page themselves.

By doing this you might be getting a bit of traffic to your blog. You'll also get on the radar of other FB users who may well like your own Page.

Of course you can share articles and blog posts by others as well. That's still to your benefit, particularly if you do it consistently, since you'll get known as someone who shares good stuff. The upside is that it's a lot easier than writing something new every time.

But whether you share your own or others' content, try and keep it as relevant as possible to the Page's subject matter. If it's about Twitter, for example, then just share Twitter related stuff. Don't start including blog posts about, say, how to get more traffic to your blog. Doing something like that will look spammy.

You're basically doing this to get your own Page on the radar of people who you already know are interested in its subject matter. So having a really good descriptive name for it is really important. It will stand out amongst all the other contributions and you're sure to get some likes as a result.

The key to getting the most out of a Facebook Page is to get conversations going on it. If you do that, you'll get the people who have liked it already returning more often. And because some of their FB friends see that they've been commenting there, you'll eventually draw some of them to it as well.

But it seems that a lot of businesses hardly do this at all. They just use their Pages to announce sales, discounts, events and other promotional stuff. Of course they should be doing all this, but they should also be trying to generate engagement as much as possible.

I suspect that a lot of people in business don't get conversations going because they can't think of what else to put up there. My advice to them would be that you don't have to generate all that content yourself. If you're in business you'll be keeping up to date with news related to your industry. So you can link to those articles and ask for input from your fans. Then once you've received some comments you'll have something else to write about.

Also, much like with blogs, if people arrive at your Page and see that it's active with lots of reader input, they'll be more likely to write their own comments.

Then there's the effect that activity has on Facebook's inner search algorithms. Sure, the social network is nowhere near as sophisticated as Google in this regard. But more activity and engagement are sure to make your FB Page easier to find within the site.