SOCIAL IMPRESSIONS

My fiance posted the following status on his facebook profile Friday morning: Howard McAuliffe is wondering if social media people tend to be anti-social when not on media. I am sure many people have asked this question before, and bloggers have addressed it at some point or another.

I think the first point to address is the term “social media people.” I have participated in many sites this past year and have yet to see an average Digg member or a Tweep referring to himself as a “social media person.” I think marketers coined that term to easily identify users who engage in the space. That term has gained traction where “online users” is now synonymous with “social media people.” A user can be engaged online but not be social with others. I think this is an important distinction to make.

Having made that distinction, I believe Howard’s question was with regards to users who are social and have conversations with one another. They are naturally participating in the space, providing content that they consider valuable/funny/intelligent/silly and sharing their opinions with the masses. When looking at it from this angle, it makes me wonder - is socializing online equivalent to being social offline?

While I am very active online, it is no more than I am in real life. I follow 600+ people on Twitter. I read their tweets, and respond to the ones that appeal to me. If I have something personal to say, I will send them a direct message. If I really connect with a fellow user, I will move the conversation to IM or email. Over time, a friendship may blossom. So far, that type of relationship has only developed with 20% of the total users I connect with online. My online social activity mirrors that in real life - we only build relationships with people who share common interests and we connect with.

The internet has evolved allowing people to easily voice their opinions and be heard by the masses. Although there are commonalities between social behavior online and offline, they aren’t regarded the same. A user shouldn’t automatically be deemed anti-social just because he doesn’t feel like going out with a bunch of friends on a given night. If a person constantly declines human interactions in favor of playing on the internet, perhaps there is an addiction issue at hand. Obviously, I am not addressing online addicts or hermits in this discussion.

To directly answer Howard’s question, I would have to say that it depends on the person. I know, it sounds like a cop-out response, but I can’t speak for the millions of online users and their varied social desires or habits. I close with these questions - There are many online users who have more friends online than in real life. Given this, is there a viable correlation between a person’s online activity and whether they are anti-social in real life? And if someone is more social online than in real life, does that mean he shares more common interests with his online community of friends?

When friends convince you to join a social network, they mention all the positive aspects of being connected. They tell you about reconnecting with friends or how sites can assist you with finding a new job. Some only want you to join these sites just to have you on board. But they usually forget to mention that the sites can be addictive and time-consuming. If you aren’t careful, it might even impact your offline relationships.

Social media can impact your communication with offline friends. It is easy to get distracted by the hubbub that occurs online while hanging out with a friend. If you are logged on while talking to a friend, you may be distracted by the email alerting you to a new message and the IM anxiously blinking. Although we are accustomed to juggling several things at once, it is still quite challenging to have more than one conversation simultaneously. It seems like one always gets the short end of the stick.

How many of you have even experienced dialogs like this:

You: I have this hilarious story to tell you.
Friend: Oh? Tell me!
<Twitter message for you pops up>
You: Hmmm <as you quickly type a response>
Friend: …
You: So, I was out shopping and I ran into…
< Twitter reply pops up AND an IM message>
You: Hmm… I… hmmm… saw… <as you quickly type your responses>
Friend: … Hello? You saw…?!?!
You: Sorry, ok… back to what I was saying…

You’re lucky if your friend doesn’t walk away frustrated by your rude behavior. Those who are still unfamiliar with the addictive nature of the social world might not understand why you have shifted your attention. Hell, even those who are connected could be offended.

If you, have the “too connected” addiction like I do, here are some recommendations I have found helpful:

1- Apologize: You know you were being rude by disregarding your face-to-face conversation. Let the person know that you respect and value their friendship, especially if this ALWAYS happens.

2- Educate: Explain how distracting being connected might be and that you will work on being a better listener

3- STOP: If you are having a conversation with a friend, step away from the computer. Ignore the flashing, beeping and ringing. Set your IM to “busy” and answer your emails when you get the chance. Your online friends will understand, because they’ve probably had to deal with the same situation.

Have you had a similar problem? If so, how did you handle it?

Follow up post discussing how being too connected can impact your professional life.

Every time I attend a conference, I give myself a list of goals to meet. This ensures that I spend my time wisely and that my attendance isn’t in vain. If I meet these goals, I will be more likely to attend the conference the following year. Below are a list of my goals that I make sure to meet every time my company sends me to a conference.

Evangelize: Conferences are a good place to share information about your company and to brand yourself. They allow you to share your expertise with fellow industry colleagues and potential customers. As an employee, you represent your company and what it represents. If you effectively demonstrate your capabilities, your company will benefit by 1- recruiting talent, 2- marketing its services, and 3- generating new business leads.

Bonding with Colleagues: Often times, you have the opportunity to attend a conference with colleagues from work. Although you should venture out of your group to do a little networking, it is also important to develop a rapport with them. This will enhance your work-related experience when you are back in the office. Try to meet at least once for dinner or drinks and have non-office related conversations.

Networking: One of the key aspects of any conference is meeting people who are normally inaccessible to you. The social media world, in particular, revolves around relationships. Conferences allow you to meet new people and maintain old friendships. If you are as goal-oriented as me, create a list of people you really want to meet at the conference and make sure you either introduce yourself or ask a mutual friend to make the introduction. Chris Brogan offers great tips on how to meet new people at conferences using social media.

Education: The conferences are increasingly gaining reputations for not offering new knowledge for those who have been in the industry more than a year. However, I am seeing a shift where organizers are pushing for new topics and recruiting a more diverse group speakers. You can also gain valuable insight just by having conversations with various attendees. I really enjoy standing in the hallway of the venue and having random discussions with fellow colleagues about industry-related topics.

Vendors: One of the best parts of conferences is meeting potential vendors face-to-face and learning about what they offer. This allows you to immediately determine if their product/service is applicable to your needs. It helps save time and allows you to go back to your office with some key recommendations of possible partners.

Do you set goals before attending a conference? If so, what are they?

Thanks to Brad Crooks for the image.

Social media mainly served as an entertainment medium to many people. On this Election Day however, social media is playing an even greater role than just to pass time. The online world is rallying people to go to the polls to cast their vote. Facebook is featuring a widget that allows users to find polling locations and to show that they voted. Additionally, Twitterers are hyping up the elections by demanding that people vote.

Gearing up to this point, social media also served as a space that provided interesting, educational and even funny stories about the candidates and their campaigns. When I asked Twitterers how social media helped them decide on which candidate to vote for, they said:

BrentCsutoras: @rabeidoh Sure. I am on social news site all day so I get to see almost everything from both sides on the election.

mammainthescene: @rabeidoh I feel so much more informed this election because of social media then last time around

Tabz: @rabeidoh Social Media is pretty much how I got all my election news (except for occasional TV news). So it informed my decision.

Not only did the online world serve as an information hub for people, it also allowed similar-minded users to join together in educating the masses about their candidate of choice. Additionally, it encouraged debate and discussion between democratic, republican and undecided voters. This election is probably the most viral campaign ever initiated online.

During the debates, social media was the “place to be” to discuss what the presidential and vice-presidential candidates said. Twitter was the meeting spot for many users who wanted to exchange their opinions. Obviously, the humor was very prevalent and made the experience enjoyable for the users providing and listening to the feedback.

Social media also served as an excellent alternative to traditional media. For example, if one missed the debates, he could search on Twitter using specific keywords, read blog posts, or go to YouTube. The user’s options for finding more information online are endless, which I believe has had an impacted on the percentage of informed voters.

The election is vastly different from many elections past, simply because of the use of social media to educate, disperse information, and encourage users to go to the voting booths. Barack Obama is a great case study of this. Social media users served as reporters, experts, analytics and columnists during this election.