Making Social Networking Work
Social networking, blogging, micro-blogging, it can all be overwhelming but if you put together a simple plan it can become as easy as instant messaging. Below is my guide to making social networking work. I’ll cue you in on the rules and the tools I use to keep social networking simple.First off, social networking is nothing new, people have been doing it for years. The water cooler at the office is a perfect example, that was social networking. However, in today’s technological age the water cooler gets a little more complicated. In yesterday’s water cooler scenario people would gather around, chat about the day’s hot topics, then return to their seats. If you weren’t there you missed it, if you were there you could look around and see everyone’s faces, and finally, you could deny you were there at all or that you said or heard anything.
Now today with sites like facebook, twitter, blogger, etc. the game is a little different. Imagine your old water cooler, except now everything you say is written down and stuck to the cooler for people to read later. Also, people may stick notes in reply to what you said for you to read when you return. In some cases it may be people you don’t know and you also don’t know who is reading all the notes going back and forth. Now imagine it’s not just that water cooler but 3 or 4 other ones around the office, all with the same (or different) topics being discussed by different people. It’s easy to see how it gets overwhelming.
Now come the rules and tools to help sort it out. First and foremost, never, NEVER, put something on the Internet you don’t want to see on the front page of the NY Times. This goes for personal email too. If you are the type of person who talks about people or says particularly nasty things, keep it face to face. You never know who is going to get a copy of what you write (purposely or not) and since everything is recorded online (even after it’s deleted) you need to stand behind what you say (or write).
Second, limit yourself to a few sites and make sure they serve a purpose. For example, I use my blog, twitter, and facebook (primarily). They all “do” something different for me. My blog is for anyone to read and I post more thought out and typically longer content like this article. Twitter is my quick and dirty public instant message application and my go-to source for what’s new in the world. Facebook is someplace in the middle but for my real life friends only. Given that they all have a different purpose I also have different rules for each.
My blog is pretty much wide open, I’ll write “to” anyone and read comments “from” everyone. On twitter I “follow” only people who I think may say something I’ll want to hear, but this includes people I don’t know in real life, and I will (although rare) “block” people I don’t want following me. On facebook I only add people I know in real life and I will (and do) ignore people that I don’t know. I also have locked facebook down more than the “default security” so it remains pretty private.
Third, cross post. Rather then post something on my blog then cover the same topic in facebook and twitter I cross post the content. For example, facebook will pick up this blog post as soon as I publish it and post it to my friends. Then I’ll post a link on twitter so others can find it as well. There are tools to help with this kind of stuff but cut and paste works too. When I post on twitter I typically make the same post on facebook (using TweetDeck) so I cover more ground with less work. Using tools to help you integrate your messaging makes sense. Your time is valuable and why spend time covering the same information twice or three times when you could be using that time covering the next topic. Social networking can be as time consuming as you allow it to be so every second counts.
The fact is that social networking can’t be ignored but it is also something that doesn’t need to be feared or become a full time job. Find a method that works but doesn’t feel like work. Be okay with missing 15% of what’s going on if you are able to keep up with 85% because unless you are getting paid to keep up on everything no one can catch 100% all the time. Whatever you do, get in on the action! Social networking often leads to professional networking and it keeps you on top of whats going on, whether it be with your friends or with topics you care about. Once you get the hang of it you’ll do it without even thinking and by then they’ll be some new technology to learn about.
June 28th, 2009 | 
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As it turns out, this is now a blocker for some people I work with moving to our WordPress install instead of what they’re currently using. They like the category and tag feeds but losing the author feeds is a no-go.
I’ve tried sending email (and xmpp) to the plugin’s author, but haven’t heard back — so if you can manage to figure it out, that’d be fantastic.
It looks like WordPress has a method to use the author ID in a feed url built in. Apparently it depends on how the various templates call the function to generate the feed url as to how the feed url will be built. For example, using the author id, try this as a parameter on your url: ?feed=rss&author=11 and it should generate an RSS feed for that author. Since it seems to depend on the template there doesn’t appear to be a WordPress code fix for the problem you are seeing.
Let me know if it works.
I haven’t looked at that code yet…let me see if I can figure out a workaround for the author feeds.
This actually has a problem — author feeds don’t work. E.g. http://myblog/?author=11/feed is not valid, and simply returns the author page. Do you know how to make this work? Thanks!
The World-Wide-Web being google-normous and the attention span of the average human being somewhat on the skimpy side, I think word-of-mouth (that old chestnut) may remain the best source of readership… unless your website happens to be all about Tiger Woods and his indiscretions(this week).
If your goal is to be found by people you know or whom you have known, homogeneity of photos and user names makes sense, but if you wish to attract new readers… well, that’s a cat of a different character…
The few websites I have discovered and revisited without having been referred to, I have found either by happy accident or by my profile selections on Stumble Upon. Of course, I am not a prolific web-surfer, but my deduction is that content is the #1 most important branding factor and sustainability of content is #2. And a little showmanship doesn’t hurt…
Take into consideration that this comment has been made by someone who blogs faux-anonymously and whose website is visited by only those individuals who have been threatened by her husband…
I just ran into this — thanks a bunch!
Whew, thanks for that. I was running out of things to be paranoid about!
Thanks for the great post on Aardvark! I really like your Aardvark question philosophy: “If I can’t find an answer in 10 minutes on Google, then off to Aardvark to get the answer.” I’d love to hear any other feedback you or your readers have – alison@aardvarkteam.com
- Alison @ Aardvark
http://twitter.com/AlisonatVark
p.s. We’ll be showing recently asked questions on our website soon!
Ummm… I could only make it through the first one. One word comes to mind: “Staged.” If I’m wrong, the next two-words that come to mind: “Prescribe Lithium.”
The best information i have found exactly here. Keep going Thank you
Super post, Need to mark it on Digg
Nice article. With great tips and info. Social networking is something that you need to do your own business with.
Keep the good info coming.
Chris Moniz
VP Marketing, Internet Marketing Professor
http://www.drdavehaleonline.com
I spend a lot of time reading blogs and I have to say I’m impressed with your posts. It’s refreshing to find a blog that has valuable content such as yours. I’ll be a regular reader from now on, you can count on it.
Thanks,
Dennis
Hi. I like the way you write. Will you post some more articles?
Nice review. I was looking for someone who had actually used this software before I spent my money
your review told all I need to know…..I’m sold…..I’m going to download it today.
I agree the fact that it is illegal will not impact the current jailbreaking movement, locking down technology rarely works. The issue I have is the precedent for allowing hardware (or “goods”) manufacturers to limit consumers use of the product they purchased and the justice system supporting them.
they’ve been saying that since the phone was launched. No surprise there. Do you see any jailbreakers stopping? Including the iPhoneDevTeam? Probably not going to happen.
Mike
Really good review. I was in the same boat when I got my new computer a few months ago with vista. I used to use my laptop with XP to copy tons of movies with a different program but stopped about a year ago. A friend gave me DVDFAB and it’s much easier, more features, much quicker, and a large amount of customer support as well as forums to help. I also like the fact that after it cracks the encryption making a second copy only takes 3-5 minutes (a second “back up copy” of course)
[...] comes in. So I am going to try to keep this address for personal use and uncluttered by “bacn” [...]
The infestation of MA liberals into NH is putrid.
Why should we better ourselves when we will get anything we want without working for it?
“The Messiah” has had this lefty-soci-commi views since before college. We do not even know who he is. Heck, I believe that he actually is not a natural-born US citizen.
I hope to get this before our rights are taken away: http://www.bushmaster.com/catalog_carbon15_AZ-C15M4PRE.asp
http://www.zazzle.com/dont_tax_me_bro_shirt-235479028750694755
Don’t tax me Bro!
Good words.
So, I didn’t check the list and I still haven’t. But I recommend you do if you use it. Personally, I did a quick check from memory and it all looked right to me. (Maybe B.O. isn’t bumping taxes to 28% on home sales, maybe only 20%, it’s still the wrong direction.)
The fact is Obama is soft on Crime (including terrorists and illegal immigrants) and wants to implement a boat load of programs we (the US) can afford. So that means I’ll be less safe and paying more for it. I won’t even have money left over to buy a gun to protect myself, that is if we’re allowed to own guns under a B.O. administration. (The Constitution is overrated, right? No!)
Anyway, I respect your opinions and I agree everyone should check up on facts but good luck finding a non-partisan source, there is no such thing.
Thanks for the comment and remember, I’ll never censor here so feel free to reply. (Some exceptions for lewd, threatening, and/ or illegal content. Oh, and posts with links to Viagra sites.)
For starters, when something so basic like the other guy’s name (the one you don’t like) is misspelled (It’s Barack not “Barak”) on a purportedly objective comparative piece then an alarm should go off in your thinking head: you are being taken for a ride, you’re being fed propaganda and lies, that you are, as they say, being played.
Voters would do well to take out pencil and paper and go down his fake list but as checked against the non-partisan:
http://www.factcheck.org/
or – http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/taxes.asp
or -
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/aug/04/return-tax-attack-chain-e-mail/
Vote for whom you will but it is awful dumb to go on the basis of a email chain-letter. Psst. The creators of this phony list are probably laughing. They were so brazen they actually dared you to click on CNN, WashPost, AARP at the bottom to verify their lies – knowing full well that you’d fall for their hoax – and you WOULD NOT BOTHER TO REALLY CHECK.
What – do they think we’re stupid?
nice