Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

I have been toying around with LinkedIn for a year or so now, and it seems to be a valuable networking tool. The value, like all other tools both online or offline, being dependent on the time and energy one puts in to developing and utilizing that avenue. I'm sure that I have yet to unlock the full potential of something like LinkedIn. Aside from listing my job positions and connecting to a reasonably good sized selection of co-workers, business associates, classmates and friends, I haven't done much to expand my network.

Over the past few weeks I have noticed an increase in the number of connection requests I have received. Too bad for me it is not my growing popularity – the requests are not coming from people I know or have ever heard of, and they are seemingly generic requests. My guess is these are mass requests – sent out to entire groups or networks in hopes of simply increasing ones number of contacts. So I have been thinking… is this common practice? My personal philosophy – in terms of social networking – has always been more of a focus on quality rather than quantity. This might be due to my paranoid parents refusing to list our home phone number and address in the local phone book when I was a kid (so the crazy people didn't bother us.) Ultimately, I have seen social networking as a way to remain in touch with people I value in my real life – simply an extension of what goes on offline. Sorry – but if I don't know you, I am not "friending" you on Facebook. I'm not sure I want you to know any of my personal information! I have taken this same approach with LinkedIn.

My question is… am I going about this all wrong? In order to achieve my personal best results with LinkedIn, should I be connecting to everyone and their grandmother in hopes of finding that special person who might help me later on in life? I guess I just see these mass connection invites come across as petty. These people don't really want to know me, they just want my connection. Is this not the same thing as a man climbing up on a table at some networking event and announcing to 300 people, 'my name is John Doe, and I am a valuable person for you to know. Come sign up now to be my friend – don't miss out!'

Ahhh – Facebook.  Couldn’t live with it, now can’t live without it. For all those out there who do not wish to be part of this world known as Facebook, I completely get it. I was opposed at first because of the lack of privacy, and because I just didn’t want to be tied up with one more thing. Then I got an iPhone, and it just seemed natural to download that little app and give it a shot! I’m still far from obsessed, but I can see how people can get hooked.

I could gripe all day long about the inappropriate things people will post on their walls or as their status. However it is these people that make it humorous for me. When someone is posting their entire day’s activities, they need to be Twittering. Those people care about what you had for breakfast. Many Facebook users like to see just how many ‘friends’ they can come up with. I have been known to deny people that want to be my friend. I’m reluctant to give up all my privacy for people that literally are not my friends, and just want to be nosy! Sorry if I have not accepted your friend request, it’s probably because I don’t want to keep up with what you are having for breakfast everyday!

The structure of society and human behavior will continuously change, and so will the way in which we communicate. It was just the landline when I was growing up and going through that awkward communication phase in high school. I think I was asked to the prom face to face.  I seriously doubt that is the case now. There is a lot to be said about how kids and teenagers are currently communicating. Are they saying too much and talking to people they normally wouldn’t, because they don’t actually have to ‘say’ it? 

Although much of it might seem impersonal (a wall post versus a phone call), people really do want to communicate more and feel connected to others. I have family that live in Florida, cousins that I would normally not email or call on a regular basis. I love that I can see what everyone is up to, and see how their families are growing. It makes me feel connected.  

Earlier this week, a co-worker lost her dog. Within a day or so, many of her friends had posted notes about the missing dog. Three days later the dog was found, via a post on Craigslist.  Although it was not Facebook that found the little pup, it was amazing to see her network of friends pull together to spread the word. The possibilities are endless.

Accepting social media as a way of communicating is no different than we accepted email.  Heck, it's no different than when humans accepted the telegraph line or the printing press!