social networking....what it should be....

Content is the key to successful networking

- Content sharing is the basis for the popularity of P2P and Social Networking (sharing photos, videos, contacts, blogs, news, etc.)

- It helps to build meaningful networks based on mutual sharing of content

- Personalization of networking enables filtering of what is important to the user

- It simplifies the experience by reducing the redundant linkages

- It enables an “open network system” wherein the number of linkages are infinite yet manageable and relevant

- Developing links through content enables the user’s universe to become infinite

- It is no longer about linking to friends or friends of friends but rather linking to people through common interests and sharing mutually beneficial content

- Strength of the link is now a sum of the combination of the “amount of time, the emotional intensity, the intimacy (mutual confiding), and the reciprocal services which characterize the link”

- Weak contextual linking with people based on content also allows for reaching a wider audience for your ideas

So it’s no longer about the people who want to hear about what you ate for breakfast yesterday or how sick your pet is. It is networking based on “real” relationships.

The fact is that the vast majority of the relationships we believe that we have are just about people who didn’t want to “ignore” you invitation. They don’t want to offend you.

The reality is that they don’t want to hear about you.

They want to hear about themselves.

Not e-mail but rather “me-mail” as Seth Godin would say.