The media coverage of the business uses of social tools such as Facebook and Twitter and their siblings, the number of spinoff web services offering various add-on enhancements, and related information is intense. (It makes me remember the simple old days when a different corporate name was associated with "world domination".) I participate in social networking tools (LinkedIn, Plaxo, and the two above named) because they are valuable, each in their own way, and because I believe any potential risks are easily outweighed by the advantages if prudence is applied. But there's more to social tools domination.
Think back on the communication and information related tools and technologies we have used in our work and personal lives: Each time something new was introduced, we adapted and got used to it and forgot how much work we thought it was to learn its ins and outs. Nothing new here. What may be new-ish is the shrinking time interval between the arrivals of new tools. For those of us without assistance to monitor them and e.g. pump out posts and tweets on our behalf, the time investment seems to be climbing dramatically. That investment is necessary because our social capital may depend on and benefit greatly from it.
Prominently at the conference mentioned in my last blog entry (and at every other conference I have the opportunity to attend), I see the personal "bookends" in the hallways and in the coffee shops: Long standing relationships between colleagues who have traveled the communication tool road for decades - and brand new relationships being formed right there in the event rooms or on the bus on the way to the gala event. In both cases, those relationships now continue via Twitter/Facebook etc.
Our success as information professionals depends on our ability to forge and maintain trust-based relationships with our clients and stakeholders. Existing relationships we can comfortably manage with established communication practices according to mutual preference. As for the new generations of individuals we need to engage (who, we are told, do not regard email as a cool tool), we have been handed a new set of instruments - and although those instruments may seem awkward as work tools, they do prove themselves. For example, 140 characters can give meaningful information with a couple of words and a URL or two.
For anyone not already plunged into in the social tools I suggest: There's always the option of engaging someone to help out!
Comments