The week began with me catching some playful hell for twittering while I was supposed to be “judging” my friends’ game of Trivial Pursuit. I only volunteered to “judge” because I was the fifth wheel and preferred drinking my beer, watching the traffic go by and offering an occasional opinion than committing to the game. Actually the fact that my co-workers were aware of Twitter was noteworthy (though none of them are active twitter participants). So here I am, surrounded by some very brilliant people who are always looking at new technology trends, but in this case not seeing the point of things like Twitter. If my awesome co-workers don’t get it, what’s the chances that unwashed masses will get it? Or, like, my family?
I told a co-worker that Twitter is my virtual water-cooler where I get a ton of info, sometimes amazing, often mundane. Other’s use RSS readers to keep up on what’s happening on the Tech world. Since I first signed up and discovered that most of the tech voices that I listen to or watch are on Twitter, Twitter has been my “RSS” feed. Besides the “A” list bloggers, I’ve “met” so many other interesting voices in tech and in church things and in education. And sometimes it was just the amazing serendipity of getting a notice that so-and-so is following your twitter and then checking out their website and discovering someone interesting that they’re following. For example, some time earlier in the year I got a notice that this “old hippy*” living in Maine was following me (*he’s probably younger than moi). When i checked out his website I found some amazing videos and found someone else he was following, a young journalist living in NYC named Alana Taylor who perfectly expressed this frustration of being alone in the Web 2.0 world:
What To Do When NONE
of Your Friends Use Web 2.0
by Alana Taylor
I have a problem. I am addicted to social networking sites. But I have no one to social network WITH! All my friends (who are mostly girls) think Web 2.0 is a type of advanced cellulite-reducing body lotion. And when I try to explain what it really is, they get annoyed, confused, and impatient.
They don’t care. They don’t want to know.
Do you have this same problem? If you do, then I know exactly how you feel.
Like me, you have a lot of “real” friends on Facebook or MySpace, but none at all on the new start-ups like Pownce, Virb, BrightKite, FriendFeed, etc. Who is going to share pictures with you on Flickr? Who is going to recommend songs on Last.FM? Who is going to tell you about their latte on Twitter? How are you going to tell someone about ALANA TAYLOR??
You feel like you are in the dark, and there is no hope for you in the social online world.
Well, there is no need to get down on yourself just yet! Even as little as two months ago, I was exactly in your position. I figured “if my friends don’t do it, I can’t do it.”
So how can you go about making friends on the new sites? Here’s what I did:
1. Forget about the Anti-Internet friends you have.
If you care too much about waiting for everyone to catch up with you, then you will be left behind. The internet is moving faster than ever. One day in real time is one year on the web. You might as well consider yourself out of the loop if you don’t keep up!
2. Join every social networking site that interests you.
It never hurts to have an account on a site, even if you don’t use it. The cool thing about spreading yourself over a wide variety of social media is that people will get to see the different sides of your interests and activities. Plus, people just like it! If someone diggs (no pun intended) the music you like on Last.fm, they might be wondering what kind of movies you make on Viddler! This is the way you start meeting people on a variety of different networks.
3. Twitter
Obviously I had to include my fave! If you didn’t already listen to my song: “The cool thing ’bout Twitter is you meet new people.” And it’s so true. I recommend searching for people with your same interests or just following those who are already really big and getting into the rhythm of doing what they do. People like Jason Calacanis, Gary Vaynerchuk, Robert Scoble, Veronica Belmont, Kevin Rose, Michael Arrington and others are a good start off. I am sure that if you start updating what you’re doing and you start chatting with people on Twitter, you will make friends really quickly.
4. Share, Share, SHARE!
The whole point about social networking is not only that you stay updated on what your friends are doing, but also that you share all the cool stuff that you run into! This means digging popular stories, e-mailing YouTube/Vimeo/Viddler videos, sharing pictures, sharing music, or whatever comes across your way! Subscribe to your favorite blogs on GoogleReader (or any other RSS reader) and share those too. You need to be giving as much as you want to receive, and eventually people will find you… see that you’re constantly updating…. and they will want to stick with you.
5. Create.
Lastly, to be one with the FORCE of Web 2.0 is to do your own thang. You can’t JUST share stuff that other people make. You also need to make your own. Saw something cool today? Blog about your reaction. Make a video telling how you feel. And most importantly, dare to try new things. People will check out your stuff if you just do it already! (Oh, and don’t be afraid to show your dorky side too. “Real” wins in here, keep “Fake” out on the streets.)
I really relate to be “the only one” who plays with social or web 2.0 sites. None of my real-world friends or colleagues do it, either here locally in my own town or relatives elsewhere. But as you suggested, I’ve been twittering and (sorta-kinda) blogging long enough that I, too, feel connected to many colleagues and friends in many different countries and professional spheres. I try to give back as much as I get in terms of links, learning, introductions, etc. Therefore, I feel a part of the online community instead of apart from them.
I do try to make sure my real-world interactions equal or exceed my virtual ones; they are both valid and equally important, but I don’t want to be a screenaholic who forgot how to interact face to face. Thanks for the post.
listen, mister. just because i’m not a twitwhore like you doesn’t mean i don’t twitter … daily! i even set my Facebook up to accept my tweets from twhirl. *hrmph* mutter *none are active twitter participants* pfffffft. how else would i keep track of my weight loss? feh.
i would like to add that i feel if Web 2.0 reduced cellulite, i’d vlog my twitters on vimeo and quadruple-crosspost and, subsequently, never leave my desk.