Following up on my post yesterday about networks (which in part serves to fill in my “who is” page), I was reflecting a bit today on what I want to accomplish with my life and how online networks fit into that. I had a good, brief conversation with a close friend and spiritual mentor, and thought about the goals I set for myself earlier this month.
The biggest thing that hit me today is the short life of technology. Truthfully, I got thinking about that last night, when I saw someone refer to a Twitter hashtag as “the financial room.” I saw that as a clear, if possible unconscious, reference to the old AOL chat rooms. I’ve increasingly seen signs that folks are using Twitter like AOL, and we know how much that company changed the world as we know it for the better. Yes, I kid.
Social networks and communities with which I am familiar, or personally work on here at State Department are building confidence in a global workforce, developing writing and self-editing skills, forging alliances and showing the value of collaboration. —Build it and they will come. But don’t build it until they express interest and develop a few initial allies to participate in the process. — I’ve written many blogs to an empty ‘room’ but after encouraging comments and interactions for 6 months, developing marketing tools such as quizes, surveys and retro photo galleries, people are visiting the blog/community sites and commenting.