For some it’s an addiction. They need it after every meal. Before going to bed. Catching a quick hit while at a stoplight.

It’s not nicotine calling their name, it’s Facebook. Whether you’ve been enticed by trying to catch up with old friends, staying in touch with family, or just trying to accumulate more friends than your spouse, Facebook has probably sucked some time out of your life. And for the most part, connections are made and relationships strengthened. Sounds great, you say. What downsides could there be? Well, there are a few.

For instance, I’ve been stood up by a friend on FB 15 minutes before we were meeting for dinner. Did she really think I FB that often?

I also no longer feel the need to attend my 20-year high school reunion. I’ve seen all of these people on FB and experienced the fly-on-the-wall effect which was all that I was looking for anyway.

And I’ve seen one too many posts of husbands talking to wives (or vice versa) via FB posts. I mean, is this really how you communicate, or is it for the benefit of your friends?

In the world of advertising, we’re constantly talking about how social media is changing the way clients talk to their customers. How they need to have a presence in this new world of communication, otherwise they’ll be replaced by another business more technologically savvy than they are.

For most of us, we probably know which friends we can communicate with on FB and which need more outdated, I mean traditional, forms of communication, such as e-mail or (aghast) a phone call. We also know for which occasions social media is better suited. For example, you might post on someone’s wall, “What are your plans for Friday night?” But I hope you’d have the good sense not to post a cancer diagnosis or family death.

We should keep this same idea in mind for our clients. Some clients simply lend themselves more easily to a presence in social media. Their consumers are already on these sites and might even be looking for the type of information they have to share. However, some business categories are viewed as more conservative or conventional, and their place in this arena has yet to be carved out.

So I suggest treading carefully when leading some clients down this road. For now, Facebook and other forms of social media may not be a replacement for traditional advertising.

Let’s remember our messages, and most importantly, our consumers.