The Social Society...?! What is it? We are all social, aren't we? We have always been. Long before the Social Web, Social Media and Social Networking ruled our daily lives.
This post will be the start of a new series of thought-provoking posts which will be grouped together under the category "The Social Society" (I was actually surprised nobody has used the term yet for posts if you check Google). The idea of this series of posts is to make us all think about our daily behavior, our habits, our attitudes in how we engage in the Social Web. How we share our Social Graphs. How we connect and leverage our Social Media affinity in the digital future.
The topic of the first post: Social Networking.
I came across the whole idea of the series when I read the following tweet...
Although I have not checked how often this quote has been shared in the last five days, I can assure you it was very often. I am asking myself if this is a clever quote?! Does it still have value in the era of globalization networking? Do we even have a chance to leave people behind in the future?
Just numbers...
How many contacts do we have? Come on, be honest and tell me. Can you...? You cannot, right? Or do you still count them...? Does it give you some kind of satisfaction, a good feeling when you can add someone? Or when someone gives you a like on your Facebook fanpage? Do you even still check your newbies on Twitter following you? Wouldn't you add those people if they have some value for you?
Just content...
In a seminar some weeks ago, I have heard that "Sharing is the catalyst of social networking". Is this still true in a world of information overload? And if so, think about the following... Do you credit people according to what information somebody shares, how important this person is, or what the value of the content creator is?
Just quality...
How do you rate your contacts? How often do we add contacts that we don't really know? How often do we add some we have never had any conversations with in the offline world? Come on, let's be honest! How seldom do we stick to our personal social networking tactics? How easily do we forget our unique strategy why we connect with others, exchange our visions and hold the contact to people we have or had long forgotten?
Just a reminder...
By dropping a contact always bear in mind...
... how you might shift your open-minded nature and how this changes your interest and social graph...
... how you might lose out on job opportunities (Social HR)...
... how you might let go a social customer in the future... (SocialCRM)
... how you might affect your Personal Scoring Index...
Many questions, many thoughts, many suggestions...
Spot On!
Isn't it time and a chance, as well as a challenge, to rethink our social networking strategy? In order not to loose humanity with all the social networking madness? Is it "uber-social" when we logon to Facebook first thing in the morning? Or does every contact in our social networks have their special places in our lives? If only to use them to boost our social graphs...? All of us have such contacts I would assume. Is social networking today an ode to joy?
How much truth lies in the above comic today if you think about your own social network? How far have we gone with social networking today? How much social are we? Let me know your thoughts...
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