Networking, social networking, friending, and making connections, the time it takes to keep up with such things can be tremendous and exhausting. It’s hard to reply to every bit of conversation and get some work done. I’m also left wondering about Stever Robbins’ question “Social media confuses relationships and databases.” He draws a possible life scenario based on just such connections.
“I have over 1,000 Facebook friends!” one Twitterer proudly exclaimed.
Why is that a good thing? Well, when your car breaks down, you can call 1,000 people who you know nothing about and cry “Help! I’m stranded by the side of the road all alone.”
One of those 1,000 people is George. George “friended” you because you remind him so much of his first romance. The romance ended badly, but George is determined to recapture the love of his life. “I’ll be glad to pick you up,” e-mails George. “What kind of flowers are your favorite?”
1000 friends who don’t really know me, but I can say that I know them.
Is that worth something? Not usually.
We have to know each other for the “friend” part to work or network like it’s supposed to.
It’s not who knows our names or the bits we write in our profile. That’s not enough for someone to know what we need or how to refer us. It’s who knows us, who knows what unique and valuable things each one of us offers that no other one of us does. It’s who knows how something, everything, will be different — better — because we were a part of it.
For someone to know our unique value, we have to know that ourselves.
So you see, it’s not who know, but whether you know yourself.
What different and unique things do you bring to the table?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
The first eBook is coming . . .