I wrote a piece yesterday that discussed how Twitter can help spark genuine engagement with potential customers/brand zealots. After reading it over I really thought about what the differences were between connection and conversation. It's a great example of comparing apples to oranges, and sometimes I think we get them confused. Below is a jot list of why they are different, but equally important.
- Connection is the first step. The first 50%. Conversation is the second step. The second 50%.
- They're reciprocal. One cannot exist without the other.
- Connection means first contact. Conversation means further contact.
- Connection is the attention getter. Conversation is the sustainability of attention.
- Don't connect and not converse. Don't converse without connecting first.
- Connection means resonation. Conversation means discussion of resonation.
The next time you are on any social network and want to connect with other users (either for business or personal) remember the C squared relationship. If you don't identify both of these, it will be hard to harness social networking...well, at least in the way you'd want it.