Internet Geek Girl

Back to my social media musings. Each one of the “tools” in my Fab 4 have their pros and cons. Fred Wilson recently pointed out that email within Facebook and LinkedIn can be frustrating. He’s right. Email on Facebook is really just a form of IM. Would you reach out to a colleague with a “real” professional issue, strategy, idea or in-depth project in a long IM (with music)? I think not. The the whole “approval to forward” on LinkedIn…what a pain.

However, instead of comparing apples to oranges, I prefer to just appreciate each apple or orange for what its worth. I’m fairly utilitarian when it comes to these things: If it’s valuable, I will use it. Now, that’s not to say that the value proposition is static. Things change; this is the LIVE WEB after-all. And, I surely don’t need two apples (Think – Pownce and Twitter)!

But instead of a point-by-point comparison, I wanted to share my TOP 10 REASONS WHY I LOVE FACEBOOK (for now)….

10. I get to start my day with a few friendly pokes.

9. I get to add a song to an email if I want, thereby adding another layer of communication strategy on to my note. Again, this is really one-to-one IM. You can’t cc: anyone as far as I can tell.

8. My good friend from college who lives in MALTA just connected with me. Along with skype, Facebook makes keeping up my international friends and colleagues a heck of a lot easier (and cheaper).

7. When I “facebook” with my teenage niece and nephew, I feel ultra cool, and assure myself that I can keep up with the kids.

6. Birthdays are a snap! No additional reminders required.. It’s all right there. I can’t wait until my birthday on Facebook (October 3rd, btw…)

5. A lot of the people I know and work with are there. Not all, but a lot. In addition to working with affiliates, customers, partners, friends and family – I can also meet new colleagues and explore bus dev opportunities.

4. For NOW – it is a lot less ugly than MySpace and has less spam. Let’s see how that evolves. I already saw one flashing, vegas-style ad. Yikes.

3. Groups make life easier for a social butterfly like me: Chris Brogan has been quite prolific on the topic of why he moved Grasshoppers group off Facebook and onto Ning. For that group in particular, Ning rocks. For more amorphous collections and/or events, I think the volume I’ll get on Facebook is the way to go. Example – being a good alumna, I formed groups for my graduating classes for high school and college. I always get pulled into helping with reunions. Facebook will make planning a reunion or other general gathering a lot easier. That is.. if people keep logging in.

2. FEED ME SEYMOUR: It’s all about THE FEED!!! I love the feed. What a good way to quickly scan and see what’s goin’ through the collective consciousness. After all, this is a marketing TOOL. Great for branding, exposure and reach! This topic warrants an entire post. Ask Scoble how many people join groups after he joins them. The feed works.

1. My avatar doesn’t have to fly!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – It is all about who you know. Since I was a young child, I understood that intrinsically. I came out of the womb networking. My report cards in grammar school often included comments such as, “Stephanie is a social butterfly.” I was voted most-talkative at my 8th grade and high school graduations. So, needless to say, I’m no stranger to community development… a/k/a business development!

These days however, there is a lot of talk about which communities we should belong too, who we should “friend” and what happens when our personal and business lives blur in online social networks.

I wanted to go on record with my general philosophies on the issues and let you all know about my Fab 4, (of the moment), so you can “friend” me. You’d have to live in a cave with no wi-fi to miss the growth and importance of online social networks. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and LinkedIn are currently my “Fav 4.” That means – I truly love them. I groove on updating them and my friends are people that I communicate with all day long. I even talk on the phone with some of these people, and – hold onto your hat – even DO BUSINESS WITH THEM. I truly believe that these communities are an important part of marketing, branding and sales.

I’ve heard some people say, “I’m using Facebook exclusively now.” That’s cool. These communities take time and we live in a busy world and especially in this industry, there is never enough time in the day. Not everyone is in every community. I like that it’s like a Venn diagram – some people in one community, some in another, some overlap. Kind of like in real life.

Chris Brogan, a master of social media and community development, argues that online social networking is an investment. I couldn’t agree more. (BTW, he also gets credit for the nifty graphic). Chris points out that:

“I think that part of it is just general kissing-and-baby-hugging of the people you consider your community, and some of it is developing potential future business and personal relationships. We do business with friends. There’s a professional potential to some of this. I don’t apologize for that. We have to eat, right? But there’s also some personal aspects, and some element of favor-trading outside of traditional business.”

I personally enjoy taking the time to build these networks and the great relationships that result from participation. I believe in being authentic and non-judgmental and welcoming all in. At my parties, “all are welcome.” The more the merrier I say (unless you act up and get kicked out). To the skeptics, and there are many, I say no problem – you can always call my cell if you want to talk to me.

Speaking of which – I also believe strongly that these networks don’t replace live and in-person contact and networking. I am here in Miami at Affiliate Summit and I bumped into a colleague that I’d like to connect with later this week. Despite the fact that we are on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, I realized, “hey, I need your cell phone number.” After all, if it’s important, you pick up the phone.

Well friends (and soon to be friends), I have to get ready and head out to the Share-A-Sale party. I promise to post pictures on Flickr as soon as possible.

As I said – human contact is good too. Thanks to Shawn and Missy for putting on a great event twice a year that allows me to network in person with some of the finest entrepreneurs and minds in this industry. I’ll leave you with my recent video on AffiliateTip.tv.

Now you know me.