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.
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.
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!
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!