The Social Networking Short-Cut

Social Networking is all the rage right now. There are those who have been a part of it in some form or fashion since it's inception. There are others who are just hearing about it today. I became involved in Social Networking through podcasting in 2005. For me, it was about finding people who were as interested and passionate about podcasting as I was. It turned into more as the online relationships developed. Attending conference events like the New Media Expo and unconference events like Barcamp Austin led me to even more online social networks. It started off as a way to continue the conversation with folks I had met at events.

Over the years it has progressed to first meeting folks online and later meeting them in person at an event.  Even though I was meeting them for the first time, it felt as though I was visiting with an old friend. It was great! I was connecting with folks who had the same interests. It didn't matter that they lived in Florida, Connecticut or even Canada. Our relationships were as real as any in my own town. More so, because we interacted with one another on a daily basis. I don't do that with anyone in town with the exception of my family.

So by doing what came natural to me, chatting about stuff that interests me, it turns out I was Social Networking. Who knew?

Fast forward to 2008 and Social Networks are all the buzz. You can't open a magazine without hearing about Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube and so many more. There is a lot of socializing going on in the Social Networks. So much so that Big Business has started to pay attention. Southwest Airlines, Comcast and Zappo's are not only on the net­works, they are actively par­tic­i­pat­ing in them daily. Ford just hired Scott Monty as their Social Media Strate­gist. Other com­pa­nies are tak­ing a seri­ous look at Social Networking.

What does this mean for some­one who wants to get involved but doesn’t know the first place to start? There are so many net­works out there it can make your head spin. Which ones should you join and which ones should you avoid like the plague? Oh sure, there is always the old stan­dard method of trial and ter­ror. It does work. How­ever, it can be time con­sum­ing and fraught with Social Media faux pas. If you are a busi­ness owner you may not have the time to learn the ropes. And there is a learn­ing curve. There are folks who jump in with both feet and in their excite­ment pro­ceed to get blocked or ignored.

While Social Net­works can be ben­e­fi­cial for your busi­ness, orga­ni­za­tion or group, there is a right way and a wrong way to par­tic­i­pate depend­ing on the net­work. I highly rec­om­mend you take the time to learn about each net­work to see which one best suits your per­son­al­ity, inter­ests and goals. In this case it’s okay to be a bit of a lurker. It’s one way to learn the nuances and ensure your accep­tance into the com­mu­nity at large.

Another way to jump into the social media land­scape is to par­tic­i­pate in one of the unconference-style camp events which hap­pen peri­od­i­cally around the coun­try. They pack infor­ma­tive ses­sions on pod­cast­ing, videoblog­ging and social media all into one day long event. Here in San Anto­nio we have Pod­Camp San Anto­nio and the upcom­ing Bar­camp San Anto­nio. Check for an event in your neck of the woods on the var­i­ous camp wiki’s. Here is the Pod­camp Wiki which shows future and past events.

And still another way would be to par­tic­i­pate in a work­shop or hands-on class. These are meant to be small and inti­mate affairs where the goal is to not just learn but to do. One of my favorite say­ings is, “It’s all about the DOING”. It’s fine and dandy to have plans but if the actual DOING of the plans isn’t car­ried out then the plan was for naught. This could apply to just about any­thing but it cer­tainly is applic­a­ble when it comes to Social Networking.

You could also hire a Social Media Con­sul­tant or Strate­gist to help you nav­i­gate the ever chang­ing land­scape that is Social Net­work­ing. This would be con­sid­ered the most per­son­al­ized method for intro­duc­tion into the world of Social Net­work­ing. Each facet is highly cus­tomized to the par­tic­u­lar orga­ni­za­tion. Hav­ing a guide to help you maneu­ver through the nuances of each par­tic­u­lar site cer­tainly makes par­tic­i­pat­ing less daunting.

Out of the four options I listed above, I con­sider the last two Social Net­work­ing Short-cuts. By hir­ing a Con­sul­tant or par­tic­i­pat­ing in a work­shop you are able to shorten the learn­ing curve con­sid­er­ably. The mar­gin of error also goes down and your adop­tion rate goes up putting you on the fast track to Social Media Nir­vana. Which is the per­fect blend of real world and online world inter­ac­tion with folks who are pas­sion­ate about your busi­ness, brand, cause or even you.

What will it be like when you share cof­fee with folks all over the coun­try over a Social Net­work like Twit­ter? How much of a boost will your career take once you engage with the LinkedIn com­mu­nity? Who will your dog con­nect with on Dog­ster?  Yes, even dogs and cats (Cat­ster) are doing it. So, just how telling is it when dogs and cats have their own Social Network?

In case a work­shop is more your style, I have part­nered up with Con­nie Reece and Sheila Scar­bor­ough to con­duct sev­eral work­shops on Three Web 2.0 Tools. There are two in July. One is on Fri­day, July 18th in Austin, TX at the Hilton Gar­den Inn North­west.  The other work­shop will be held one week later on Fri­day, July 25th in San Anto­nio, TX at the San Anto­nio Tech­nol­ogy Cen­ter. These work­shops will be hands-on and highly inter­ac­tive. Get ready to roll your sleeves up for an indepth intro­duc­tion to three of the best ways to start your social media journey.

Regard­less of the method cho­sen to engage in Social Net­work­ing, I do believe par­tic­i­pa­tion is the key to sucess. I hope you find Social Net­work­ing as infor­ma­tive and fun as I have.

Tags: Austin, connie reece, San Antonio, sheila scarborough, social media, Social Networking, texas, web 2.0, workshop