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Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine Vol 03 Issue 05
------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine -------
Vol 3, Issue 5
Lisa and Kaylie went down to Perrysburg on Saturday to visit with
Grandma Debby
(http://cnpofohio.blogspot.com/2009/03/little-kids-networking.html).
They all went out to a local playground where Kaylie immediately
found a bunch of other young kids to play with. They had a grand
time. Some of the older ones even took Kaylie under their wing
to help her get the most out of the playground toys.
It's almost funny how easy it is for little kids to come together
and make friends. They have no concern for what the others think
of them or whether they "should" go up and say hello. They just
walk up and start playing. We adults, on the other hand, make
things so difficult with all of our neuroses and self-doubt that
we often end up isolating ourselves. This is especially true for
those of us who work alone. We don't even have the traditional
water cooler around which we can gather to discuss the latest
happenings of the day.
As with most dilemmas, the Internet has come up with a solution:
social networking tools. Login to one of these services and you
need never fear of being alone again -- more or less.
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In This Issue...
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1. Article: Linking In to Your Face
2. Shameless Self-Promotion
3. The Fine Print
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1. Article: Linking In to Your Face
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OK, before I even get into the whole social networking service
discussion, we need to have an agreement up front. No matter
which service(s) you use, they *cannot* replace real,
face-to-face (ar at least voice-to-voice) contact. I don't care
how clever you are with text. If they haven't actually seen or
heard you recently, you really don't exist.
OK, that said, I've been starting to play around a little more
with the online social networking tools. In particular, I've
focused on LinkedIn and Facebook. I'm starting to check out a
few of the others, but there's only so much time in the day.
Here's what I've found so far.
LinkedIn: For lack of better words, this is the "business" social
networking site. I've noticed that the interactions here tend to
be a lot more formal. "Friends" -- those people whom you have
listed in your connections -- are supposed to be only those whom
you would be willing to introduce and recommend to a third party.
In fact, LinkedIn's reason for existence is primarily that -- to
allow you to find a path of introductions from yourself to
someone whom you would like to meet. How well this works in
practice is a matter of some debate.
Of course, as with pretty much all of these services, you can
create or join groups, chat with friends, and participate in
discussions. Unlike most, though, LinkedIn provides the ability
for people to write recommendations about you. It undoubtedly
has a number of other features with which I am unfamiliar, but to
tell you the truth, LinkedIn has one underlying problem for me
and in this brave, new world, it's one which can be a real
killer.
It's boring.
I just don't have any real reason to check in on any sort of a
regular basis. I know there are others who swear by it, and I
know that the folks at LinkedIn are trying to up the more social
aspects of the service, but still, I just have a hard time
getting excited about it.
Facebook: Now this is a service that seems to be a lot more
fun. Facebook focuses much more on the "social" aspect of social
networking. "Friends" here can be anything from the bossom
companions from your youth, to classmates from high school whom
you haven't seen since, to that guy with whom you chatted at the
last Chamber reception.
Where LinkedIn is a rolodex, Facebook is the water cooler.
I've been spending a lot of time on Facebook recently. Whether
it's real or not, Facebook gives you a feeling of being part of a
social group. At the top of your FB home page is an area where you can
record what you are doing right now. Further down is a running
list of everything that your "friends" are doing.
Facebook is mostly about fun. People chat back and forth. they
post pictures and videos. They challenge each other to trivia
quizzes about beloved movies. Staying in touch and learning
about each other is the name of the game.
That's not to say that FB *can't* be used for business. Many
organizations have set up pages for themselves. The Ann Arbor
Chamber is only one of a multitude who've done this. This is one
more mechanism to get the word out about events going on at the
Chamber. I've even had a friend or two who claim to have found
work through their Facebook connections.
If you're not already using them, give social networking services
a try. Expecially if you are in business, you should have a
LinkedIn account at least. Remember one caveat about these
services, though: Everything you put on them will be around
*forever*. On the Internet, nothing gets forgotten, so before
you upload that picture of yourself partying in Mexico, think
hard about whether you want that to show up the next time someone
googles you for a job interview.
To which social networking sites do you belong? How have you
used them? Drop me a line at gpeters@cyberdatasolutionsllc.com
and let me know.
Copyright 2009, Greg Peters
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2. Shameless Self-Promotion
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The "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-Zine is a production of Greg
Peters, owner, chief cook, and bottlewasher of Cyber Data
Solutions. CDS has been helping website designers develop better
web presence for their clients for more than a decade. Visit us
on the Web at www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your
webmaster.
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3. The Fine Print
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