High Interaction, Low Connection and the Way Forward
Two years ago, my friend Kristin sat me down and forced me to create a Facebook account. I was horrified. The first two months were awful. Like some quirky pixie dust sprinkled on my computer, I was reunited with scores of high school friends. How annoying!
Lots has been said about where all of this is going. Social. Media. I for one was looking for it to change, with any luck, to go away. I drug my heels on just about everything social and media. And yet…
When my family and I were visiting LA, we connected in-person with a friend whose request I accepted. We met in person after years of separation. Both of our families connected. It was amazing. We had such a great time. I wish I could see he and his family more often.
I have heard lots of these stories. It is what make Facebook and the rest of social media interesting–when it turns into real life events.
When we draw a real life encounter from an online experience.
A walk on the Santa Barbara promenade.
A lunch.
A hug.
A business meeting.
A hug at a business meeting, with any luck.
How do we do it? We engage.
Tags: business networking, indie business, small business, social media for business, social networking for business
July 8th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
I so love this topic, Matt. I wrote a blog post about some amazing connections I have made on social media and, like you, I was recently able to meet two very special beings when Bob and I traveled to San Francisco for WordCamp. One was a smart, savvy author and business consultant I met on Biznik who I now consider a personal friend. The other was @winecountrydog, the tweeting Welsh Corgi who Bob and I met (with his owner when we stayed an extra day and visited a vineyard the in Sonoma Valley.
There were hugs all around (well, in winecountrydog’s case, it was nosetaps) and it just felt like we had come full circle.
And, yes, the engaging had to happen first. Thanks for this thoughtful post.
July 8th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Well, you are certainly not the only one who had to get over the social media hump and accept that it’s here to stay. I did it and I have led many over that hump over the past couple years. It’s funny how now it’s just a given in my life and business. I have made amazing connections both online and offline via Facebook, Twitter, (not so much through LinkedIn, but I’m on there), but by far the best and most connections I have made are through Biznik.
I am not just saying that because this is the Biznik blog either. It’s true. I have met a crazy amount of amazing friends, clients, colleagues, and collaborators through Biznik. One is my accountability partner in my business. Another is a group of women who met regularly for almost a year to support each other as entrepreneurs. I’ve met a slew of clients and other cool people that I keep in touch with on a regular basis–I don’t think I could even count them all.
Ultimately I think the best social media, as you said, brings us offline to connect live and away from our screens–it facilitates real life relationships. Biznik does that well. I’d say better than most of the others out there. Thanks for the reminder of how far we’ve come. From resisters who dig in our heels to total joiners. Sigh. Now I am forcing myself to use foursquare, though I am not convinced of it’s value in my life. Sometimes you just have to join and then find the value.
July 8th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
JUDY: Sometimes going to events feels like drudgery to me. I kick and scream. And then, after we leave, I am always the one who thinks that was the **best** thing we have ever done!
KARRIE: I am the mayor of nowhere. Oddly, I want to be. Why?