If you’ve started to take my advice and build a network and profile on Facebook you’ve probably come to the realization that it’s a lot of work to keep up with and participate in your network- particularly if it’s not an activity that makes you money.

I’ve used the Firefox browser for a few years and recently came across the Facebook toolbar for Firefox. (There is an IE version too) What this does is it allows you to stay up on Facebook activity anytime you are browsing. Now I’m not suggesting this as a way to get you glued to Facebook, but it does let you know when you have new messages and requests. The function I use the most is that it also allows you to update your status and share pages as you surf.

Another feature that has some value is that it streams in the background when anyone on your friend list updates their status. This can seem pretty trivial, and most of it is, but every so often it sparks a reason to engage in a meaningful conversation with someone in your network.