Everyone knows that it’s about who you know and not what you know.. Being someone who is heavily involved in the online market, I’m continually dropping tweets, answering friend requests and plugging away at my keyboard on myriad instant messaging services.
Over the past several months, I’ve seen people in the new media trade, hurrying to make as many contacts as they can. Every single day, searching through social networks to befriend people who might, one day, be able to add value to their ventures. With social networks such as Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and LinkedIn, amongst others, it’s possible to acquire hundreds, if not thousands, of friends/connections with a few clicks of the mouse. Let’s not forget the power of blogs either!
When last did you look at some of the people in industry who are friends with you and take note of the people they are connected to? Sometimes on Facebook, I click to people and realize that we have more than 50 friends in common, of which most of them I’ve only met once or never even met! Whether it’s looking for someone to hire or someone to do some work for you, the social networks provide us with a free and easy medium to get our news/requirements out to a large number of people, which in turn is essentially driving our companies!
My question is simple: Is this going to saturate the market even more, or will it lead to a point where everyone is actually working together to produce business initiatives? Positive or negative, what do you think?
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12 Responses to “Is social networking fueling your company?”
It seems to me that networking is and will be the way of the future. I think about all the possible mashups from collaborating individuals andwith this I anticipate great things.
Its a good point there, tho i do think that this will cause saturation in the market and eventually annoy people using the medium for the íntended’use.
I am almost over (esp on facebook) getting invited to be some promoter/event person/dj’s mate, because i KNOW that if i click accept im going to get buzzed by him/her/them every week about a new event etc…
@Maritim - I couldn’t agree more! I think, for me, the most interesting part of social networking, is wondering where things will go in the future and how everyone is going to be pulled into the same platform!
@Rox - Thank you so much, it means a lot coming from a fantastic copy queen!
@Guylike - Ye mate, there’s so many different networks available, which makes it a bit of a nightmare, I do agree, but the power of networking is what powers all these companies and without it, things would be extremely different and perhaps less efficient. What you think?
Although, have said that, I don’t see this form of marketing/peer-building flourishing in SA for at least another 3 years.
It’s very much a youthful attribute atm - 15yr to 30yr olds. The next generation of SA Businesses will definitely be making use of more socially orientated mediums to out-source work to. Doing like the Jews have done for 1000s of years - supporting their own. In this case, their own “online community”.
Social networks are the fuel for the marketing industry as it is most of us are spending more man hours online and tend to trust our friends and our “friends friend”.Rather than saturate social networks are evolving into a powerful tool!
I think the use of peers found through social networking means is limited to startups and a small selection of industries at the moment. Once you get to a certain size, where your company has lines of management & directors, I don’t believe there are many industries that would currently entertain the idea of recruiting the services of people found on social networking sites.
However, certain trades, such as the ‘new media trade’ you refer to - the whole essence of this trade is the online world. Sure, the use of social networking sites is to them the same as a spade to a gardener. There’s also a lot to be said about the mindset of people in this trade vs those in others, when it comes to the use of online methods to enrich business.
So, going back to your question. Will the market be saturated? Well, within certain online orientated trades… maybe. Generally, I don’t think so.
Chris, I couldnt agree more…
Having everyone linked to one another would definitely bring on benefits that cld fuel our businesses.
Networking is crutial in todays world. Having a data base at hand could mean cutting time and increasing productivity…ppl know ppl and what better way to be advertised than through someone linked to you?
Great book - The One Minute Networker by Bryan Thayer
…i think as long as ppl arent flooded with unnecessary spam, its a great way to let ppl know who u are and what u do…because you never know.
@CJC - I agree that it ways it is positive, but I worry a great deal from a business point of view when it comes to companies working through other companies and levels of transparency, not to mention saturation - soon everyone will befriend everyone and that might have an adverse effect (perhaps). On the flip-side, a country working so strongly together would be fantastic for international relations. It’s definitely moving in the direction you talk of and I feel that it’s only a matter of time until a BOOM hits!
@Nairobian - Indeed they are, my question is whether it’s a good thing to trust friends of a friend (in a business sense though)?
@Eric - Firstly, great to hear from you, it’s been years! I couldn’t agree more with what you have said, I did write the article very much focusing on smaller corporations and very much South African focused. However, with companies such as News & Media 24, Mail & Guardian, Vodacom and others getting their fingers into new media pies, I feel that it won’t be long until we can clasify larger corporations into this bracket as well, you agree?
@Janine - Absolutely, I just worry about the transparency and such that I mentioned in my comment above to CJC. Thank you for the book name, I will research it and persue to purchase it should I find it a topic of interest to me
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Christopher Mills is a highly experienced SEO and Web Development guru. With an impressive track record in blogging, web design, development, and web optimization, not to mention experience in hardware, operating systems, programming and networking makes him a Dalai Llama of computers.
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It seems to me that networking is and will be the way of the future. I think about all the possible mashups from collaborating individuals andwith this I anticipate great things.
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