I’m not Facebooking. I’m working, people.  I spend hours–days even–reporting and writing the stories you see here. But how would you see them if the Internet didn’t bring you here? According to my traffic page, the majority of you (very smart, very attractive, incredibly lovable) readers wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for Mark Zuckerberg’s brain child.  And so, this evening when I finished a post on Awkward Money Moments (particularly close to my heart considering a) i am notoriously awkward and b) money makes my world go ’round), I was floored when I couldn’t post the link to my Facebook wall.  “But how will they read my story? I’m just a tiny blog in the blogosphere–nobody will find me!”  Breathe. And so I breathed. And joined some Forbes staffers for a beer (leftover from last night’s historic Forbes 400 launch party) to regroup. We talked about the new issue–Hey, Mark! #35 ain’t bad!–but what we ultimately came up with over that beer is the (un)official “Forbes Facebook’s Down Survival Guide.” And, no, afternoon beers are not a part of the plan. Unless, of course, that’s your thing.  1. Get on Twitter. Did you know that it’s not just something linked to your Facebook? Turns out you can reach most of your FB followers in 140 characters or less.  2. Make a phone call. your friends in San Francisco might still have access and can do outreach. (Thanks Emma!)  3. Walk away from your computer. Talk to your friends–to their faces. They look so different from their profile photo!  4. Check Google News–your FB news feed isn’t the only reliable news source out there. In a shocking turn of events, Katelynn’s baby sitting up–isn’t really news.  5. Write a blog post about not being able to get on Facebook. Hope against hope people read it.
This afternoon, with Facebook down and a story to get out on the web, I panicked. And then realized that face-to-face contact is as good a social network as any.