Social Nutworking
It’s not the well-meaning people who are nuts, it’s the proliferation of ways in which to network; it’s completely nuts! In recent weeks I’ve received invitations to join Pulse, FriendFeed, Naymz, Twitter, and now Diigo (and I’m probably forgetting a few). This is in addition to FaceBook, LinkedIn, and a few Ning sites, where I’m already on. And these are people I do want to link to, it’s just that I’m getting leery of joining too many sites. Which may not be a concern, but I just don’t know. So far, I’ve been shining them on or asking what’s up. I suspect that a number of them have just been read off of email lists…
I’m trialing differing philosophies: on LinkedIn, I try very much to only link to people I know (or, in a few cases, that I should). And I haven’t really tried taking advantage of LinkedIn, like asking questions. On FaceBook I’ve been more open and experimental, but with no real payoff. And I’ve joined a few relevant Ning sites.
The social web is supposed to be the killer app, and maybe I’m too much the introvert. I want to network, but I really want to invest where the payoff is (and minimize exposure to too much junk), and it seems like only a few people are on each, whereas most of the people I know seem to be on LinkedIn. I talk about eCommunity, because I believe in it, and use it in a variety of ways, but I’m still coming to grips with it in the bigger picture.
So this is a question about your advice and recommendations. Join all, and see what happens (thankfully, I use secure software to store all these #$*%! passwords)? Ignore the oddball sites until they get momentum? Run and hide? ?
Hi Clark
I guess the question to ask is what payoff is one expecting? Is it a new job, more projects, more traffic to my blog, business opportunity, learning opportunity, dating, …? Depending on that one would join the different social networking sites.
LinkedIn seems like a more professional, talent/job search facilitator. Like you mentioned, you are connected to people you know, and also some who you should know. I have been using LinkedIn more to track my ex-collegues as they jump between jobs, and occassionally to try and recruit specific people for my team.
Like you, I have experimented more with Facebook, creating a group and having more conversations with my connections. On Facebook I have some connections who I know only through social networking sites. It took me a while before I became active on Facebook.
I am also on Orkut but that seems to have younger audience more interested in dating. I also created a Plaxo account many moons ago, but it died a natural death. I haven’t accepted any invites from the new sites like the ones you mentioned. I just ignore these invites.
I am currently staying only with LinkedIn and Facebook and have no intentions of joining the other ones. Between LinkedIn and Facebook, I have covered most of my contacts and I haven’t yet found a compelling reason to join and track any other social network site seriously. And once there is a LinkedIn plug in on Facebook (or I discover it if it already exists), then it will only be Facebook.
Comment by Manish Mohan — 6 May 2008 @ 9:46 pm
Manish, thanks for the comments! Mark Oehlert’s recent post on his eClippings blog pointed me to this list of biz-relevant FaceBook apps (a dauntingly comprehensive suite of applications), where LinkedIn Contacts is listed as just the LinkedIn plugin you might be looking for.
Comment by Clark — 7 May 2008 @ 8:21 am
Social Networking is key these days, for introverts, extroverts, business folks, educators–for everyone! LinkedIn and Facebook have linked me to people I haven’t talked to in years and has helped us link up in a business professional way. Facebook is great for sharing information and much to my surprise, people actually read what I post! My company, findingDulcinea.com gets a lot of traffic through Facebook applications. On a personal level, I am finding my former high school teachers–who are well into their 50’s and 60’s on Facebook!
Comment by Jen O'Neill — 28 May 2008 @ 12:35 pm
Jen, I do use LinkedIn and FaceBook (not well, yet, I admit, compared to Tony Karrer for instance). It’s just all these other tools that keep popping up. Glad it’s working for you!
Comment by Clark — 28 May 2008 @ 12:58 pm