Outsource Magazine

Social networking has a huge impact on today’s business as well as on our personal lives as businesspeople.  It affects those we depend on as friends, employees, associates and those we depend on as business contacts.

Twenty years ago, in 1991 and before, it was the water cooler, or the watering hole downtown.  This is where we would catch up with our “network” and exchange information, share ideas and opinions and express our positions on key points and challenges of the day.  This is also where rumours would start, loose information based on bits and pieces shared, stories contrived and office politics touted. We did this face to face.  We looked each other in the eye. We made a judgment call on that information based on that look. We made decisions on that information or set tactics to understand that information based on what we heard and saw.

Ten years ago, in 2001, it was email and cell phones, where we would contact our trusted friends and share information, gain information, share ideas and opinions and express our positions on key points and challenges of the day.  We lost that “eye contact” but we still trusted our instincts based on sound, content and who in the network other people were connected to.

Today, in 2011, we see immediate offerings of information over texting, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and email on our cell phones or smartphones from our “friends” or contacts and some of us use this information like any other artifact that we come upon - but in real-time.  But often, we don’t know who the source is or know them well, who they know and how they are linked to us.

Mark Zuckerberg is a genius and no one can take that from him; however it might have been better if he had categoried our “friends” into categories, such as “known contacts”, “unknown contacts”, “associates”, “family” or “friends”, instead of just “friends”. This is not that complex but it would have eliminated a huge problem with social networking. Right now, every contact we have is listed as a “friend”.  What you choose to share with your closest true friends is shared by all you have in your friend list.  Yes, you can create groups, but it’s not that easy for some and from I have witnessed, not used in the degree necessary to protect one from true privacy.

Think of the water cooler analogy.  When we’re standing getting a drink and talking to two or three people, we were sharing that only with them.  Yes, they can and probably will share anything “juicy” with their friends at the next visit to the cooler.  But on social networks today, when you share something, it’s like sharing with everyone who ever visited the water cooler and onward and everyone they visit with as well, even when you’re not there.  Any conversation on social networks is forever available on the web to all available.

We have to ask ourselves: how is the technology and communications evolution affecting our ability to make decisions?  How are we filtering information we react to?  Who exactly is our “friend”?

The older generations might know this by instinct, but the younger generations have to ask themselves "who are my real friends?  How do I define a 'friend'?  Do I really care who knows what about me?"  You should. Unfortunately, there are people who thrive on their works through information about you: not only identity thieves, but also predators, criminals and people who would do you harm for their personal gain.  Even your career growth can be easily stunted by use of your personal information to others.

Flying through the cloud

So social networking has now transformed communicating from an eye-to-eye level to a message on  some social network.  It literally is a cloud.  For most of us, without performing hundreds of hours of study, you truly have no real idea who can see your information, your shared thoughts and messages and your exposed situation or activities.  I have seen young people as well as older shooting for the most “friends” they can get on Facebook like it was some kind of contest or self-valued rating. 

At my best, today and through my entire life, I have maybe five trusted friends that I would entrust with my personal secrets and information.  Yet today, I see many who have over 300 “friends” on a social network that they expose their emotions too, their current relationship positions and daily challenges too.  You have to ask yourself, how healthy and safe is that?

It’s like flying a plane through a thick cloud without radar and a compass.  You have no idea what’s ahead, what impact or challenge awaits you, or what direction you are actually going.  Social networks can be the same way, if you don’t take the proper precautions.  Controlling your friends list carefully is the only way to do this, in addition to thinking about what you’re posting before you post and the impact of that post in the wrong hands.

Recipients of new technology become users

As users of the new social networking world, we all need to be cognisant of the impact to our personal lives.  For some of us, this is just elementary, but to many it’s not.  You need to think through what you post, who you post it too and how and why you post.  Like any conversation you have in the office or at a social event, what you say comes around and goes around but in a wide spectrum.  But with social networking, the timing of that communication could be at light speed as well as far and wide.

Using social networking for business

As an employee, the best rule of thumb is to use social networking for business as a separate part of your personal use.  You can choose not to mix and match personal with business. I recommend having separate accounts.  Have one for personal and family and one for business.  This is not rocket science and is easily accomplished.

As a business, the value of a social network is huge for most businesses without personal exposure.  But as business employees, it can be a double-edged sword.  We’ve all read about people being fired for entries onto social networks.  Entries have even been used in courts for defamation of character, brand equity damage, non-disclosure of confidential information and many other torts.  They have even been used in bankruptcy proceedings, financial claims and contractual disagreements.

Being careful of what you say online is more important today than ever. This is true as a person and as an employee.

Summary

Just say no to mixing personal with business on social networks. Manage your social networks separately from business and social and choose your “friends” wisely.  This is not a contest of who has more friends; it’s more of a choice on who we want to communicate with specific messages.  This bears true with smart phones, cell phones, texting and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn.

From a business standpoint, there are plenty of opportunities to explore on advertising within the social networks.  Finding your mix of keywords, interests and experiences is definitely available.  However, we as managers need to be aware of the misuse going on within the networks by uninformed users who invite themselves to communities without knowledge based on an invite or enticement and we cannot expect to exploit them based on pure availability.

Advertising should be carefully chosen in networks and categories that apply themselves to your interest and specific target audience and not used as deception to attract or ambush users into your web.  The people you collect in deception will only waste your time and will expend your energies as well as spend your budget not required to an actual sale.