The Value of Social Networking

You hear constantly about the value of social networking, be it through school, your peers, or even the national news. I do believe though that people often take this for granted.

The main reason for this, I believe, is that they think that simply being a member of say, facebook, makes them fully a part of this growing trend. That however, is not the case. Facebook is an outlet, but simply having an account is not what can provide you with the results you need. Partaking of the resources within these networking sites though, is where the real golden egg is at.

How do I know this? I have had my Facebook account for several years now, and had a Myspace before that. I simply used it for friends though, which isn't to say that's a bad thing, but it's surprisingly restrictive, in reality. I at one time had over 700 friends on Facebook. That's what I thought was meant by developing a community. The fact of the matter, however, is that this alone is not enough. If you are simply a member on someone's friend list, you can get lost among the masses. Taking the extra step to become more precise about it though, is where it all can begin.

I started off by joining a few groups, most of which were just friend-related. One of them though, was a group on Facebook for owners of the Tiburon, my car. Hyundai Tiburon Owners is a group that involves people posting about their cars, uploading pictures, advice for fellow owners, links to quality aftermarket or replacement parts, as well as any discounts or deals. It's a great group, and some of the members no longer own a Tiburon but stay on the group to continue to provide input.

The thing is though, not even simply joining a group is enough. I read a lot of posts on that page, but from the moment I made my first post on it, the amount I got out of it exploded. A simple question develops into an entire thread, and some of the advice I procured was excellent. I now post regularly, and plan to continue doing so. The more I do, the more I find I get out of it.

This has carried over into my LinkedIn account. If you don't know what that is, head over to the homepage and sign up. It's a social network for professionals. There aren't any annoying posts about who broke up with who, or spamming of any kind. It's just a solid, useful resource. You don't have to be a total professional to use it though. I simply work at Pizza Hut right now and am using it to seek the advice of and network with more experienced people in the fields that I am interested in.

For example, I joined a group for current or aspiring automotive journalists, where there are a mix of amateurs and professionals. I posted a topic for discussion asking for advice about becoming an Automotive Journalist. The response I have gotten is fantastic. Most of the people responding are people who have years of experience in the field. They are not simply single-sentence posts, either. One was so long that the gentleman who wrote it posted it in his own blog about Corvettes as an actual post! He even mentioned me by name in it, on a blog that has a fairly decent following, unlike this amateur one which I have just started up.

My point is though, at the end of the day, you have to get even more involved in these social media networks if you want to get the most out of them. It can potentially open all kinds of doors for you.