The politics of technology
Like many of you, I use a handful of social network applications to create networks, stay in touch with friends and develop my professional network. I’m guessing I was also like many of you in that I didn’t sit down and develop a “social networking strategy” before I started using these tools. In fact, in a couple cases creating an account and using the network was my way of figuring out what that particular network had to offer and whether I wanted to continue to use it.
Personally, I use three primary platforms for networking and personal brand development: LinkedIn, Facebook and twitter. LinkedIn is my primary business networking platform (sorry Plaxo – you just never captured my attention). Twitter I use sparingly on more of a micro-relationship level, although I am convinced there is value to be had on twitter, even without a huge time investment, and will most likely slowly use it more and more. Facebook is the platform I’ve ended up using more than any of the three, but it’s also the one that has posed the biggest challenge for me.
I started out on Facebook just to see what it was all about. Facebook makes it very easy for people to find you and you to find people, so very quickly my friends list started to grow. The problem is that is was a hodge-podge of business associates and personal friends from all phases and times of my life. This is a story I’ve heard over and over from others: with such a diverse mix of “friends”, do I consider Facebook a public business platform or a private personal platform?
You have to decide this one for yourself, but I can tell you where I’ve ended up after giving this a lot of thought over the last couple of weeks. What prompted the reflection is a friend request from a couple individuals I didn’t really care to connect to. I know that sounds harsh, but it all goes back to having a basic strategy on what your social networking platforms mean to you. On LinkedIn, I am already linked with these two individuals and it makes perfect sense as a reinforcement of our business relationship. However, Facebook feels different to me, and I’ve struggled a bit to reconcile the diverse mix of connections I have there. Getting friend requests from these two really forced the issue of figuring out some sort of approach.
Where I’ve ended up that makes sense to me, is back to Seth Godin’s concept of Tribes. I’ll put some links at the bottom of this post if you’re unfamiliar with Seth’s concept of Tribes. While Seth’s core message with Tribes is more about leadership, with respect to my Facebook account the aspect of Tribes that made sense to me was the bit about surrounding yourself with people where the connections are particularly useful, are long-term and can help guide you through your life and create happiness. For me, that was a perfect way to think about “friends” on Facebook – I don’t care if you are a business or personal contact, if you’re someone I know from grade school, or someone I haven’t even met in real life yet, but you have to be like-minded and add to my journey, helping me to create personal happiness and “change the world” for the better.
So finally I have a philosophy for Facebook that I’m happy with. I’m sure there are those of you out there that will say I over-thought this; it’s certainly a tendency I wouldn’t argue with you about. In this case however, I think some reflection is warranted when using various social networks. Because they are so pervasive, because there are so many ways to share your thoughts (professional and personal), I think it’s important to be clear with yourself how each network you use fits in with your personal and professional goals and values as a guide to what you share on them.
What about it readers – do you have a strategy for the social networks you use? Are they all the same to you, or do you have different goals and usage for each?
Seth Godin / Tribes
There are lots of links I could give you as an overview of Seth Godin’s Tribes, but this informal interview of Seth I think not imparts the concept of Tribes, but also portrays Seth’s passion and insight on the topic. I do think it’s misleading to use Apple and Google as examples of how Tribes make sense (so many more reasons to their success than simply getting a couple people passionate about their product), but a good interview nonetheless (12.23 minutes).
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Comments
Ah the ramblings of a mad man!! I too found similar issues with the use of social media. My original intent was to use Facebook for business to compliment my Linkedin connections. I soon found the personal nature of facebook taking over. The ability to keep up with not only my own children but the large number of nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and etc. took over. Many of the threads are probably not intersting to and possibly not appropriate for work related contacts – Oh what to do! Linked is somewhat of a work in progress with no proper direction since I have had had the time to set the course. I also have a Twitter site but lets just say the nest has not been built and I am still flying around in circles trying to figure out how to land.
Having rambled myself I guess I will continue to play in all the formats and try to figure out which place works best. Which Tribe am I and do I want to lead?
@Bob – whereas I leave LinkedIn as strictly professional, Facebook is where I let personal and professional blend, although always in a way I feel comfortable representing myself. I think it’s okay to use Facebook as a way to stay in touch with family and friends alongside professional contacts.
I’m starting to think it’s a benefit to do that. Just like the old saying goes “people buy from people they like”, I think sharing a bit of your personal life amongst your professional contacts can give them a glimpse into the other side of you, and serve to deepen the relationship. Of course, you need to be comfortable with that, and not everyone likes their personal and professional lives to co-mingle. For those of us who are comfortable with an overlap, or even embrace that they aren’t separate lives, I think Facebook is the perfect platform for enriching those relationships.
[...] … arrogant, self-absorbed, narcissistic jerk” a big part of your personal brand?” photo The politics of technology – davecrainonline.com 06/29/2009 Like many of you, I use a handful of social network applications [...]
Very interesting. Facebook has become my personal private networking place connecting to trusted friends and family members. I’m connecting to cousins around the world and becoming reacquainted with old (old…) high school friends. Every day I’m stunned by how much I learn and how willing people are to share information on Twitter.
I found this step-by-step guide on how to organize your Facebook friends using filters:
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-filter-out-facebook-friends-without-them-knowing-2009-6/step-1-1 It may come in handy when you think you’ve crossed the line on granting permissions.
Carol – thanks for the link, but let me point out something so you don’t make the same (false) assumption that I did.
I’ve come across a couple of those guides in the past and thought they were godsends as there was certain information I only wanted to share with a subset of my friends. So I created a couple lists and used them accordingly. Long story short, all these lists do is give you a way to filter what you see in your news feed on your Facebook homepage. Lists do NOT control who sees what you post or comment on. Those items are still open to everyone’s eyes. As far as I know there is no way to control who sees what you post. If anyone has figured that one out, please comment.
Godin is routinely brilliant, and I’ve pointed to smart things he’s said time and time again. But in this video, he’s even better than that. Now, every time another friend asks me about why I’m not bothering with Twitter, I’ll simply send them this. His strategic focus and insistence on doing what’s unqiquely right for him is inspiring. Thanks for pointing this out, Dave.
I have struggled with this very same thing myself and like the way that you have described it here. The concept of Tribes was not something that I’ve applied to my usage, but it totally makes sense!