Making Friends on Social Networks

Earlier today I created a new Linked In profile for myself. I'm now considering whether or not I should create a new FaceBook profile. I have one currently but it's for friends and family rather than for professional connections. My thinking is that I could write a Twitter post and have that same post content go to Linked In and to FB also. However I don't want to send a tweet stating that I've written a new blog post and send the same kind of information to my existing FB profile; I'll have people asking me what the hell I'm doing, asking what I'm talking about and generally asking me why I'm being such a geek.

Just looking on FB I've realised that Boagworld is present on there as a website. So I could, presumably, create something similar for my own web site.

The next thought is that of who to connect with on Linked In and, if I create a professional me account on FB, on there also. I know a handful of people who I could invite as friends but, again, they have personal accounts on FB rather than professional ones. There are lots of big names on Linked In who are key players in the web industry. Now I'm not going to send them a friend request on FB or add them to my network on Linked In. It seems that there are the rockstars in the web industry, the movers and shakers, and then there are professionals who work in the industry but aren't necessarily on the world stage and then there are types like me who are trying to break-in. Should I be using Linked In to connect with people who I currently know in the real world or should I attempt to make connections to others in my area of interest who I don't know in person?

What are your experiences?

Doug_S

LinkedIn is good to be a part of as it can help grow your network in your industry, especially in an industry like ours. I don't use it nearly as much as I should but it's been handy in a few instances.

Facebook... Yeah. Do you need one? This is something that bugs me. This idea that everyone needs to be on Facebook. Not everyone does but it can be handy if there's an actual business need that can be met via Facebook. Are you trying to get new work from clients and agencies? Facebook might not be the best way. Are you looking for an easy way to interact with your community? Facebook is a great choice.

As for how to use LinkedIn, connect to people who know you. Not random strangers. Now, that doesn't just mean people you've worked with. It also means people you've met and talked shop with, recruiters who mentioned they might know some people, anything at all. Heck, if you can get one of the movers and shakers to connect with you on LinkedIn that's awesome. However, don't expect them to.

Though, I would point out that all the "rockstars" in the web industry are normal people. Most of them are actually pretty cool, down to earth individuals who are fun to just sit and have a chat with. That's what I love most about the web; even the big guys are still little guys in mentality. Heck, for my senior dissertation I interviewed Jason Fried and Matt Mullenweg. I sent them requests and didn't even expect a response. Mullenweg got back to me that day saying he'd love to do a quick interview and could I fit him in on Thrusday (two days time). Fried got back to me the next day saying he didn't have enough spare time but that if I sent him a list of questions he'd take whatever time he could to send me back answers to all of them. I did, he did, and they were extremely useful, well thought-out answers to my questions.

For those of you who don't know, Matt Mullenweg created WordPress and Jason Fried founded 37signals. There are bigger people on the web, in theory, but you'd be hard-pressed to name them. Maybe Zeldman. But even he's a normal guy who you can tweet and he'll respond.

So yeah, interact with as many people on the web as you can because they tend to be some of the coolest people you'll ever meet.

As for how to use the various networks, figure out where you need to improve and expand and then decide which tool works best for that need. LinkedIn is a great one for professional stuff, Facebook is great for a bit more personal. But that's just how I use them.

What I do have is two Twitter accounts, one for my personal ramblings and one for my professional interests.

anttis

I've also thought about this problem. The personal me is very different that the professional me and to make things even more difficult, I kinda have two professionals in me from different fields. So far I've been using my personal accounts for the geeky stuff but just created new accounts for the other professional me. The reason for this is that people, who might be interested of what I do are totally different between the two professional identities. It's just more convenient towards them to have two accounts. 

Anyway, I didn't create a new Facebook account for the other professional me because I think FB is more about personal connections than professional but I like the idea that you would present the professional-you as a website in FB. That would give you an identity in FB also but would clearly state that it's different from the personal you. 

boagworld

I primarily use social networks to connect to people I already know. I also receive a lot of requests from people I've never met which always strikes me as a little strange especially when there is no form of introduction.

One of the nice things about LinkedIn is that you can write a message when you add somebody. This provides the opportunity to explain why you are trying to link with that person. I have been known to add people I have never met when they take time to introduce themselves and explain why a link would be a good idea.

However generally speaking I see social networks as a place to continue existing relationships rather than create new ones. Of course this is just my personal opinion.

96methods

Thanks for the input guys. As a result I think that I'm going to stay away from the professional Facebook persona route.

Just re-read my initial post and well, who am I trying to fool? Not sure why I'm worrying about social networks at this stage. I'd be better off trying to just write some useful content on my blog and seeing where things go from there, i.e. slowly building up interest.