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Are you social networking? Man, if you’re not, you’re missing the boat.
Now let’s try substituting words for social networking.
Are you telephoning? Man, if you’re not telephoning, you’re missing the boat.
Are you wearing a nametag? Man, if you’re not wearing a nametag, you’re missing the boat.
Are you using words when you talk? Man, …

Social Networking isn’t a “thing” that you do. Networking is a part of living, part of developing personal and professional connections. Online social networking is one particular avenue for developing networks.

I’m connecting to a lot of noobs lately. And good for them, to be connecting and trying out “this social media thing.” Excitement and enthusiasm are great – but social networking is not a “thing”.

I look forward to when the hype dies and online social networking is just another tool, just another modern convenience – used organically to connect with people regularly, easily. Comparing movie taste with Shane from high school or discovering that you and Monica from your old job have a similar outlook on “The perfect Friday night” is only going to go so far (I give it two more years) before it becomes the next VH-1 retrospective.

And I almost feel sorry already for people whose lives will have an enormous void when Twitter finds its business model is a for-fee usage and 90% of the users drop out. What will they do?!?! How will they communicate and, more importantly, what will they teach to new users?

I don’t want or expect online social networking to go away – because I value it more than the hula hoop, the Lindy hop, the Rubik’s cube. But I fear that its fate will be affected by its length on the hype continuum.

If your business is promoting the use of social networking tools, do us all a solid and quell the hype.

read my last posts an my other blog too.

My friend Sharon called Facebook, “An inane diversion of the bourgeoise. I expect Fellini to show up any minute to expose its ridiculousness.” (That’s not a direct quote, but that’s how I remember it.)

As more and more people join Facebook (and, oh god, twitter) worlds collide – and I find myself having to make difficult choices between my professional persona and my personas among close friends, former classmates, acquaintances, neighbors, church people, relatives, … And not only do I have to watch what I say, I have to watch what other people say and post about me and to me. (So no more friend suggestions!)

This form of social networking was fun for me when it was new – fewer people to keep track of, more discussions about the possibilities of its use. Now everyone’s either a self-proclaimed social networking expert or a wide-eyed newbie who loves the way they can dig up old friends…. But then what? Can it last? Not that there’s anything wrong with the world catching on and being better connected; but like anything else, when it goes from being a cult fascination to being the new dance craze, its usefulness diminishes because the pool of participation gets diluted. This is not a new phenomenon. In my lifetime, it’s been CB radios, the internet (before the WWW), chat rooms, message boards, and now “Web2.0”. And as Stu Weibel pointed out, “Social Networking isn’t new; it is what we do as social beings.”

Yes, modern is just old-hat, chromed. (-R. Kidney)

By the way, that quote from Sharon was over a year ago, before the massive adoption by middle class adults.

So as I eagerly await the next technology Wild West, I can’t help but think that it won’t be technology at all. We can connect with people all around the world, and some of us do. But we can also connect locally, and that can be much more satisfying. The pessimism that accompanied the last eight years of U.S. administration fueled the need to think big, connect and seek validation from the safety of our homes. If the world changes in the way I hope it will, people will come back to the public square, roll up their sleeves and make great things happen – together and in person. Ironic that the president that mobilized his campaign through social networking might be the change that renders it “an inane diversion” of the past.

I don’t think electronic social networking will go away, nor should it. But I hope that we’re all able to wake up from the pleasant valley sundaze soon and return our focus to meaningful connections. (… and Facebook, Twitter, et al have certainly enabled those connections to develop.)

In the meantime, I may find myself reading more books and fewer feeds, at home less and in the public square more. Maybe I’ll see you there.