Step Back and Look Around
Sometimes we do what we’re doing because it’s the trench we’re in. It’s the needle on the record way that we accidentally live our lives, and that’s not always a bad thing. That’s why we say “into the groove.” But it’s not always cool, either. Because sometimes, we’re following a well-trod path to the edge of a cliff. Here are some thoughts.
What Do Social Networks DO for You?
Just stop and think about that. WHY do you log on? What do you get there? When you log in, remind Facebook who you are, say no thanks to biting chumps, to joining your friends’ fan groups, to adding some guy with a ? for a face, what do you do next? You answer messages that could’ve gone to email. You find people’s birthdays (Google Calendar, anyone?). You poke people. You record things. You play some Scrabble, er, Scrabulous.
You swing by LinkedIN, browse and answer some questions, maybe recommend a friend, and that takes about two minutes.
Maybe you swing by Seesmic, which is HOPPING, don’t get me wrong. You watch a few videos, record one or two, and then what? Utterz? You answer some stuff on Digg? Vote for a while. Stop by StumbleUpon.
What the hell are you doing? What are WE doing? What is this doing for us?
(Now, I have my answers. Do you? Have you thought about it? Are you just scurrying around?)
What Are Your Goals In General?
Before you go traipsing about, blogging and podcasting and twittering and uttering and making usernames all over the Internet, ask yourself what you’re hoping to get done. Most folks have one answer: meet like minded people. Or maybe you say things about how you want to talk about what matters to you (*.deity knows that’s what I do. I tell people I want to talk about things that I’m interested in talking about).
But if we’re all just out here building our user names and friending people, and adding people, and direct messaging and poking and super poking and recording and starting conversations, wouldn’t you hope we’ve got a point about it?
Breathe Deeply and Pause
Friends, the answers are there. These tools have saved us from one thing: proximity. I grew up in places where precious few people cared about what I cared about. When I’d visit my grandfather’s farm way up north, I’d pretend his tractor was a spaceship. The other kids, mostly cousins, would pretend along with me, but weren’t really DOWN with it. They just did what I was doing.
These tools do even more for us. They give us a way to express ourselves in multiple dimensions. Some of you might be old enough to remember when desktop publishing seemed AMAZING. We’d get these floppies loaded down with clip art and layouts and god awful font choices, and suddenly, we were all making magazines. Only, we didn’t print them out. Or we did, but we’d hand them to our friends and that was it.
I often tell people that the reason I love The 7 O’Clock News is that it’s probably what me and my friends would do if there was videoblogging when we were in high school. The fact that Jonathan Bloom and his friends can make shows in the basement (or wherever) and dream is so much better (or at least more accessible) than when my friends and I could only impress each other with our wit. It has reach.
The Internet solves proximity. We can share and align along tribal lines of LIKES instead of NEARBY.
With That In Mind
There’s still amazing value in turning these tools inwards on our locales. There’s never a dull episode of Beachwalks with Rox. She’s walking around fricken’ Hawaii! We can watch Wandering West Michigan and plenty of other great shows. We can read blogs about the heartland, about the places that matter to individuals. We can check in with Eric Rice at poolside and listen to Utterz from friends all over the place.
So what happened there? Oh. There’s something else about why we’re traipsing around biting chumps, I guess. It’s the people.
Whoops. It was the people all along.
But don’t let that be the reason you use all these tools and rush around to all the various platforms. Heck, Justin Kownacki hasn’t even bothered wandering into Facebook yet, and Michael Bailey walked out on it weeks ago. They’re still connected, connectors, and moving the ball forward. They’re just choosing not to use Facebook. Why? Because they took a step back, and looked around.
What Should You Do Next?
That’s not the point. I’m not going to tell you. My point was to shake your head a moment. To hold your shoulders and look into your eyes for a moment. My point was this: ask yourself why, what, what for. See what comes of it.
And then, once you have a feel for that, see what you do next. Can you make something interesting happen? Can you build interesting projects? Can you find people of like-mindedness to join with and create something bigger than your solo efforts?
What should YOU do next?
Photo credit, Absolut Wade
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Comments
Chris, I answered this issue for myself a couple of weeks ago - http://www.acidlabs.org/2007/10/31/shattering-barriers/ .
Not the same words as you, nor quite the same focus, but more or less the same thing. It’s all about connecting.
The last two sentences said everything. My goal is to have friends who one day will help create some thing bigger that helps all of us. I am thrilled by stories that social networks helped people find a new calling, help them raise money, answer questions or drive loneliness away.
That’s a good question, one I’ve been asking myself lately. To be real honest, my specialty is podcasting and blogging - those are my first loves in the social media space. I see social networks as something to augment that to me - the different tools to varying degrees of success. I’m most disappointed with Facebook (as you may note as of late). I joined at the behest of Ken Rutkowski and Robert Scoble. Their evangelizing worked. I wanted to connect up with more folks like them. In the end, though, I think my presence there has benefited Facebook far more than it has benefited me. Twitter, on the other hand, is something that has been of great success in networking, connecting and expanding my spheres of influence and communication.
So I guess, to answer your question, I view social networks as a way to amplify my social media presences and turn them into communication avenues instead of broadcast avenues.
It’s all about people - ourselves and others. The key for me is meeting like minded folks on one hand but on the other, it’s meeting interesting folks. People who are doing things I’d love to do, people doing things I’d never do, and everything in between. For me, it’s an adventure, finding common ground where it be thought unthinkable before.
Each day is a chance to exchange information and ideas, what we do with that is up to us.
Great post.
The most surprising thing about the proliferation of social networks is how social they are. A paradox, to be sure. At this moment, I can’t properly answer the questions why, what, what for, BUT I do feel as if my experience on the planet has been improved and enhanced by my participation. What to do next is a very good question…
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Some people have little gardens in their yards.
They love to show them off when people come for a visit.
Other people are farmers, they grown tons of food to feed the world. They make money.
Point? It’s however you see to use it, whatever gives it meaning to YOU.
Nobody needs to justify it to anyone else (yet we often feel the need to do just that).
Most of it is a pure waste of time - yet, over the last 2 years, I’ve met 10’s and 100’s of people who I never would have because of events like PodCamp and VON and Video on the Net, and local MeetUps.
Priceless.
I’m changing my life because of the connections I have made, and the influences and positive attitudes which I have surrounded myself with.
That’s gotta be worth something, eh?
I think everyone benefits from re-evaluating WHY they do what they do, and checking their gut to be sure it’s what they still WANT to be doing.
There’s nothing wrong with saying, “No, what I’m doing ISN’T what I want to be doing,” and then changing your life.
There IS something wrong with never asking yourself, or worse, asking yourself and then ignoring the answer because “maintaining” is easier.
fully agree Chris, proximity is here and distances are gone. I am happy to see you regularly on seesmic an follow you on twitter, otherwise I would just have to wait for the next conference. See you soon ;)
Well, Chris, could log onto Blog Friends and leverage your social network to find some great blog posts—which is how I found this one! : )
I’ve been part of the internet for so long now that it comes a time, it just seems pointless. We’re inundated with prevalent news, unreliable information, random senseless rants, all for…?
And then you stumble upon a good substantial read. You stayed a while and continue reading before you reach another level complacency.
It’s human nature, I’m afraid. Keep filtering.
I’m staying with facebook mainly because I’ve I can connect it to my blog and in my line of business that seems like a good idea. Also heard that a ridiculous number of BBC staff are on there. I think it was something like 11,500 and since I make films it also makes sense to be there. Not that anything may come of it but if you are’nt in you can’t win.
Twitter is my real love. I have found interesting people through that and it seems like fun.
The most humbling part of this whole revolution… the idea that somewhere, someone may view you as a role model, an inspiration, a soulmate, a true friend.
The first time a young girl came up to me at a racetrack and said that she reads my blog religiously because she sees me as a “role model”, I was shocked. I originally started blogging as a personal scrapbook/journal of my racing adventures. Seeing it evolve and learning what having a “voice” really means has been empowering.
What do social networks do for me? Don’t know all they’ll do for me yet, but let’s start with:
Lets me interact with my CEO in a way I didn’t expect;
turned me onto VRM and Doc Searls;
let me learn a whole heap about things like jaiku ‘n twitter ‘n tumblr;
started me blogging again;
got me back into learning about the changes in this space;
and hey, lets me keep in touch with what my family are doing too!
That’s not too bad, is it.
Lifelong learning is pretty cool.
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You know, it’s not so complex for me. I mean, yes… of course it is. The whole social networking thing has a million complexities and backstories and motivations and purposes.
But I use it to a) connect with people I care about now; and b) connect with people who have thoughts and ideas and lives that interest me who I haven’t had a chance to care about yet.
Sure, that’s sappy. But I had some leftover emotion. So sue me.