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.