Carrie Podber, marketing director at GOATLANTA and founder of echaincommunity.com, recently spoke to the subject of social networking, how employers are dealing with the topic and more. The following is Part Two of this article.As many of us know, there is both a positive and negative to the Internet. Podber points out that you can’t control what the Internet reports about you whether it is positive or negative but you can help control the placement in the search. The best you can do is lower the negative and raise the positive. With the Internet being content driven, if you don’t have content, you don’t have a presence.
When it comes to social networking, Podber notes that networks can be a valuable asset when used appropriately. According to Podber, people aren’t understanding that Facebook is not the site to go to for meeting new people but rather for locating old friends and staying connected to present ones. Therefore, you have to have a connection with the person in order to be friends with them. As Podber sees it, this defeats the purpose of taking advantage of these environments for building new relationships.
Podber says another issue is the setting up of groups. She notes that people are now attempting to form groups on Facebook that are business related. Podber says she has questioned several people about groups as it relates to Facebook. According to Podber, people have joined them, but then they never return. Podber feels the business groups are just not getting the proper traction because there is really nothing to do in them. She says you also risk the danger of Social Spam when becoming a member of these groups.
When asked if the baby boomer generation gets it when it comes to social networking, Podber feels that for the most part, they understand that they need to be linked in in some aspect of social networking to make it in today’s market; however, they aren’t effectively utilizing it.
When speaking to the subject of Facebook, Podber notes the baby boomers that are trying to utilize it for business are considered Social Spam, which is not good. She says there is a danger of being part of a social venue and trying to utilize it for business as opposed to being part of a business community with a social twist. As Podber points out, it only works effectively with the latter.
According to Podber, the baby boomer’s need to be educated on how to appropriately utilize these networks and everyone needs to understand how to benefit from them whether it be from a social or business aspect.
One last word of advice from Podber...Beware of those that call themselves an “Expert” in this space. Suddenly a portion of tail end Gen X and Baby Boomers feel that a having an online profile constitutes being an Expert. As Podber quickly points out, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
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