With all the talk of “social†in the web today, I started getting really tired of the references to social networking or social media and so on. After all, isn’t networking social by its very nature? What I eventually came to recognize though is that all these tools online are just another means to extend and empower us in life. Whether for our personal or professional lives, the way we’ve adapted these tools and technologies is the important part. I’ve come to call these tools and the use of them the “social web†as it’s a culmination of the technologies and how we use them.
So past all the great site and service ideas, there is actual real-life functionality. That’s what we’re looking for in most of this, simply some way to connect easier, or communicate faster, or share ideas with more information and context. Through our use of these web 2.0 technologies we like to lump together and call “social media†or “social networks†there is something more important to each of us: how we use it.
My question, then, is how do you use the social web? Is it for work? Is it for play? Is it to connect with friends & relatives? Is it to build your brand? Do you use it to speak for yourself or your company? What’s in your social web?
We talk a lot about social networks and social networking these days, but it’s really nothing new. Only the tools are. People have been networking with peers for decades, much longer actually, but we’ve only really called it networking for a generation or so.
While tools like social networks, micro-blogging, or podcasting utilities, and the Internet itself bring powerful new (and fun) ways to network, it still relies on people. Without people, these tools are simply high-tech toys with little purpose.
Anyway, what I’m talking about here is your personal network of peers and associates in your industry or genre. The people that you interact with, compete with, and explore opportunities with. Your personal network is an important part of your career. I didn’t fully realize this until I left a cozy but uninspiring position a couple years ago. It wasn’t until spending a bit of time out participating, networking, and interacting with folks in and out of my field that I discovered how important a personal network is.
Interestingly, my personal network is grown from my mix of social media exploration and personal branding work. Through both interests, I’ve grown a network of friends and associates that I can share ideas with, send questions to, be a support network for peers, recommend people, help solve problems, and much more.
So, I strongly recommend paying attention to your network. The people you associate with professionally and socially have a lot to offer to you in both your personal and professional life. Not only does a person need to grow that network, but to maintain it as well. After all, as in most things, it’s the quality of the network, not the ultimate size that yields the greatest results and rewards.
Also, being a helpful resource to your network, not just a consumer of it, will bring more value to you than you can imagine. As you participate in your network – your friends and associates – make sure to help them find what they’re looking for. Help them with jobs, choosing the right iPod, finding the right hotel for vacation, answering those social network questions, or whatever else comes along. Be the resource that your network needs and your network will be there for you.
Yep, we’re starting to see more and more variations on social media meetups. This is a great thing for SMBers that can’t make it to a regular SMB because of work, distance, or other commitments.
Ruth Sylte has put together what looks to be a great meetup in Northfield, MN at The Contented Cow on August 24th. You can find more info here.
If you’re looking for another way to network with your fellow SMBers, this is a good one. So check it out and share the info with your social media friends.
SMB-TC6 is coming together quickly and seems to have a theme: social media in real life! We’ve got many great things happening that really show how social media is changing everything we do. From writing books, to our political process, social media is transforming social interaction, bringing more interactivity and a voice to more people.
I didn’t plan on this, but as the event materialized, we ended up with a theme of sorts: social media in real life. The agenda is full of it – we’re writing a chapter of a book, we’re learning of new tools by their creators, we’re talking with citizen journalists at the kickoff of a major political conference… all these things are part of the lives of our community. We get to share these things, and make them even better. At least, that’s my thoughts as we finish pulling this together.
We have a very special event at this SMB: live-writing a chapter of Pioneer Press Journalist Julio Ojeda-Zapata’s new book Twitter Means Business –How microblogging can help or hurt your company. How will this work? We’ll be using Twitter of course! The project kicks off on Monday August 18th, 2008 and runs through Friday, August 22nd at SMB-TC6! More details on this from Julio (@jojeda) shortly!
Also, we have a new sponsor this month: MarketWire (thank them for the bacon ;).
Julio Ojeda-Zapata (@jojeda on Twitter) will talk about his upcoming book Twitter Means Business – How microblogging can help or hurt your company
Participate in live-writing a chapter to Julio’s new book on Twitter, we’ll wrap that up live at SMB-TC6! Read more here!
Live remote update from Noah Kunin (@noahkunin on Twitter) of TheUptake.org from the first day of the DNC in Denver, CO. Noah will be demonstrating how social media, specifically mobile video, is being used for citizen journalism.
Glad you asked! I don’t know, guess it’s a lot of things. Work is one of them, and my current contract certainly eats up the business hours. Sure, the real job takes up the majority of the time in my day and week, but I’ve found more. I’m spending more time doing the things I forgot I liked to do.
And that is a key component to recharging and taking next steps I suppose. There’s lots of opportunities for people that they never seem to recognize for what they are. Until a couple years ago, I spent most of my career doing just that – not recognizing opportunity after opportunity waltzing past without my realizing it.
So far, this year has been amazing on so many fronts, that I’ve found more opportunities offline because of online efforts. These chances to do new things, combined with more time spent with my family have meant that I spend less time writing and posting on my blog here. That doesn’t mean that I’ve abandoned it by any stretch, but it does mean that I’ve not spent much time developing content and sharing ideas or new things.
I just wanted to take a minute when I seem to have a few extra and simply say “Hi!” to all the folks I don’t get a chance to chat with very often of late. I’ll be around the ‘net working on a number of different things, but hope to get a chance to sit over virtual coffee and catch up with many of you soon.
@MAC_Arms Pay taxes when you make your money, pay taxes when you spend your money, pay taxes when you successfully invest your money, pay taxes when you save enough taxed money to afford a house, pay taxes to live in your house, pay taxes when you sell the house that you paid taxes on to
Yup, taxes are criminal and we need serious reforms. I've always said that if you want to see a tax revolt, make withholdings illegal and have Americans write a tax check every payday. They'll revolt for sure. You don't miss what you never had.
Sen. @berniemoreno says voter ID and proof of citizenship are simply common sense.
“We’re talking about a very low threshold — identify who you are and prove you’re a U.S. citizen when you register to vote. I think we’re getting closer to
With all the talk of “social†in the web today, I started getting really tired of the references to social networking or social media and so on. After all, isn’t networking social by its very nature? What I eventually came to recognize though is that all these tools online are just another means to extend and empower us in life. Whether for our personal or professional lives, the way we’ve adapted these tools and technologies is the important part. I’ve come to call these tools and the use of them the “social web†as it’s a culmination of the technologies and how we use them.
