Social networking convergence
I was surfing through LinkedIn the other day and saw this article mentioned in one of the groups I belong to. The author, Renee Lemley, talks about her trifecta of social media networking – Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter – and what she thinks people can get out of each venue. It’s an interesting take on the topic, providing a concise overview of each site and a solid list of each of their benefits.
Since I have accounts on each site, I didn’t need convincing on what those benefits are, because I’ve seen them myself – at least Facebook’s and LinkedIn’s.
For Facebook, I’ve:
- reconnected with a bunch of people from high school who I hadn’t talked to in a long time as we get ready for an upcoming reunion
- kept up with friends from all over the globe
- finished 10th out of 500,000+ in one of the weekly poker tournaments!
And on LinkedIn, I’ve:
- connected with people I otherwise wouldn’t have through the various groups I’ve joined
- targeted potential referrals as I look for work
- been contacted about a freelance job that, while it didn’t work out, gave me hope that possibilities do exist there
Twitter, meanwhile, I’m bad about. In the six months since I’ve joined, I’ve made a total of three updates – and the first one was on election night. I guess I have yet to understand the utility of it. I’m much more likely to make updates on Facebook, since more people I know are on it than on Twitter (at least that I’m aware of), so it’s like Twitter is, dare I say, overkill. And it’s not as if I haven’t tried, either: I even have a Twitterrific app on my iPhone, but it tends to get lost among my other apps (which include Facebook and LinkedIn). I think the solution is to merge my Twitter and Facebook accounts – then read through Lemley’s article again about its benefits.
I’d be interested to hear about what sites other people use in their social networking pursuits.
