Midcourse Corrections

Tag-Archive for » connections «

Nov 2009

Go ahead and spend the next four minutes watching this video.

Wow, it’s the 21st Century’s version of Esther Williams water ballet! Don’t you think? (If you’re too young to know who Eshter Williams is, that’s why I provided a link.)

Chris Brogan says this video applies to Twitter. He describes Twitter as a serendipity engine. I like that!

A while back Steffan Antonas wrote about how blogging, social media and Twitter created a culture of encouraging randomness and accelerating serendipity. Steffan got the phrase, encouraging randomness and accelerating serendipity from Tara Hunt who wrote The Whuffie Factor.

Here’s what I wrote in July and I think it applies well to this video and Chris Brogan’s thoughts.

Ultimately, I believe we all crave community and connections. And technology, especially social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning and Twitter, has given us new ways to connect with others, no matter where they are.

It’s those connections that we crave.

I see social media akin to picking up the phone, having a meeting, or joining a community organization. It’s a touchpoint and a mechanism for conversation. People forge relationships with other people, not with a brand, a business or technology.

Contrary to popular belief, social networking sites tend to augment, rather than replace, offline interactions. One of the reasons why social media sites are so successful is their focus on supporting offline networks over online-only relationships.

How is this possible? Before, the notion of “keeping in touch” was hard work. It required one if not both parties to actively pursue contact on an at least somewhat regular basis. Communication required time and planning.

Social networking sites, on the other hand, are designed for easy, lightweight, ad hoc communication.

They’re designed to help us make those connections and maintain a healthy human network of the social economy, as Brian Solis says.

So how do you describe your online connections and relationships? Are they different from your face-to-face connections? Do you have any tips for maintaining and nurturing your connections, whether online or off? Share your thoughts.

Category: Social Media, Web 2.0 Tags: accelerating serendipity, connections, encouraging randomness, Hibi no Neiro, human network, serendipity engine, Social Media, social networking, Sour, Tone of everyday 2 Comments

6 More Elements Of The Social Media Mindset

Jeff Hurt

Aug 2009

Have you read Rajesh Setty’s 12 Elements of the Social Media Mindset?

Rajesh says that it’s important to understand the “social” aspects of social media. He states, ”…that ’social’ is what sets it apart from other media.”

Rajesh Setty, author of Upbeat Now.

He then lists 12 elements “that you can focus on to build the right mindset for participating and succeeding with social media.” He proceeds to list and describe these 12 elements that all begin with the letter “C.”

Here are his 12 elements:

Caring
Curiosity
Contribution
Content
Clarity
Conversation
Creativity
Character
Community
Courage
Change
Commitment

If you didn’t read his descriptions of each element, you might want to read his post so you’ll have a better understanding of the context of this conversation. He’s an excellent writer, clever, creative and has a way of bringing clarity and meaning to his point of view.

After reading his post and pondering it for a moment, I came up with 6 more elements of the social media mindset that I would add to the list. All starting with “C” of course.

Here are 6 More Elements of The Social Media Mindset:

1. Chi – We all could use a little balance and life force in our social media endeavors.

2. Collaborative - Social media is not an island to itself, for lone wolves or a black-masked lone ranger environment. Allow room for collaboration by others to extend your social media endeavors. It’s not about being the end all definitive answer to everything.

3. Connections – It’s about the emotional, relational and the social connections you have with others in both quality and quantity. I’m personally a fan of quality over quantity yet I know that the right quantity can help with your social media efforts.

4. Context – Help others understand the bigger picture of the conversation and community. It’s about the facts or circumstances surrounding the social media endeavor as well as the beliefs, opinions and values of each person involved.

5. Creator and Co-Creator – Everyone is seen a creator of content which can be as simple as sharing their own experiences or as complex as working with others for knowledge co-creation. It’s no longer about top-down controlled experts only but the collective wisdom of the creators.

6. Cumulative Value – It’s about the entire cumulative effect of all these mindsets working together.

So what other elements of the social media mindset would you add to the list?