I Don't "Get" It (LinkedIn, That Is)

My buddy @mitcharno over at Tuvel Communications recently shared a link to a post about social networking gender differences. The folks at LinkedIn say, “The overall result in the US is that men are overall more savvy networkers than women, but the real insights start to surface when you start slicing and dicing by industry and company.”

I’m an avid link-clicker so Mitch’s pointer led me to another post that said (my paraphrase), “Hey, wait a minute. Maybe it’s just LinkedIn that women don’t like.”

In my case that’s true. Though I’m a self-proclaimed geezer who loves gizmos, it’s taken me longer than I’d like to “get” some of these new-fangled tools. I’m an early adopter of downloading/signing up and then a later understander (made-up word) of what it means to my world and how I really want to use the tool. I’ve been an email user since 1992, read blogs of all types for years, and have had Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for almost three years. Four out of five of those tools occupy a major portion of my waking hours so evidently I’ve “got” it where they are concerned. LinkedIn is currently the outlier, much like the stats that the LinkedIn folks discovered.

The often-used tools break into two broad categories:

·          Email and Facebook are my outlets to connect with people I know well. Some are folks I talk to regularly; others are friends/colleagues from long ago. The not-happening-at-the-same-time (asynchronous is the geeky word for that) communication means I can check in without “bothering” folks. I email or post or read when I want and folks respond (or not) when they choose. With email, I can get a quick response or go back for a review when my memory fails (what WAS I supposed to do about this task?). My Facebook friends are personal connections—high school, college, church friends; former colleagues of mine and Don’s; and family—people I actually have some type of relationship (present or past) with. They’re also people I trust so when I ask a question I’m fairly certain that a high percentage of the responses will be credible.

·          Twitter (or at least the tweeps I follow) points me toward articles and issues I might not know about otherwise and keeps me up to date on topics I’m interested in. It satisfies part of my curious nature. I don’t know all of the people I follow in a direct way (yeah, like Steve Case would recognize my name), but I’m not invading their space by following them. Blogs are the same way. The entries from the diverse list in my RSS feed make me laugh, provide moments of inspiration, or force me to look at an issue an entirely different way.

But I just don’t vibe with LinkedIn although I guess I need to try harder since I certainly want to be viewed as “savvy.” I’ve read articles about improving your profile and adding connections. I know people who are LION-TopLinked with a gazillion contacts and I admire that they have that many connections, REALLY!

I’ve tried to think more specifically about why LinkedIn doesn’t work for me at least right now and it boils down to two things:

·          It kinda reminds me of those clubs from back in the day (not that I EVER crossed the threshold of one of those places….I just “heard” about them! J). The ones where there was lots of small talk and a bit of posturing (male AND female) and the number of first names and phone numbers (real or made-up) acquired was the benchmark for a successful evening. The few times I’ve posted questions on LinkedIn, the signal-to-noise ratio was pretty low and the activity that resulted was mainly, “I can sell you xyz consulting services.” It could be I was asking the wrong questions.

·          The other thing about LinkedIn that bothers me is the whole recommendation thing. I’m all for shout-outs when people do a good job and I try to give them when I can but it feels false when I see five recommendations come within minutes of each other about different eras of a person’s career or a quid pro quo set (Jane wrote one for Sally so Sally immediately returns the favor) shows up on my LinkedIn update. Just thinking about asking somebody to post a recommendation on my profile makes me break out in a cold sweat (probably why I’m not any good at sales, too).

I haven’t given up on LinkedIn in the hopes that I’ll “get” it eventually and I’ll keep watching respected colleagues who use it for their benefit. In the meantime, I’ll see you on Facebook and Twitter!

Your turn to share…which of the social networking tools delight you?  Which are baffling?

Besting Kevin Bacon

You may have played “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” a wildly popular trivia game in the ‘90s. But even as far back as the 1920s, a short story by Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy explored the whole notion that his protagonist using no more than five individuals, one of whom is a personal acquaintance, could contact any person in the world using nothing except the network of personal acquaintances.

These days social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook make that concept commonplace (my younger friends would say, “Duh!”). But I’m a small town girl at heart so moments when my worlds collide are still sources of amazement. Three quick examples:

·          On a Tuesday evening, I hear that a woman who attends my church (that I don’t even know!) is headed to Qatar to open a branch of a cupcake store that is a big hit in Reston, VA. On Wednesday, I’m having dinner with a group of friends, including one who mentions she’ll be traveling to Qatar in mid-May (she’s the rock star of coaching women entrepreneurs in the Middle East). I make the email intro, they connect, and on her trip Mary Mac coincidentally visits the center where the cupcake store is going to be. She briefs the local businesswomen’s association and they are ready to help when the cupcake store manager arrives to set up shop later this month.

·          Some friends requested oncologist recommendations via a fairly large email list. Initially, I think I won’t intrude because I’m sure they’re getting lots of feedback but then decide to send a quick note giving a shoutout to the practice that we used (and loved). They got lots of suggestions, but I learn that their family doctor recommended the same practice. Confirmation from two completely unrelated sources sealed the deal for them.

·          Over the weekend, a friend posted a Facebook status about her son’s upcoming week at horse camp at a YMCA in Kentucky. My spidey sense keeps telling me there’s a connection of some type. Finally, I realize my niece’s fiancé is the executive director of that Y and that Steph wouldn’t automatically think of a Collins’s connection—why would she since I almost didn’t? Two texts and a Facebook message later, they knew about each other and met face-to-face bright and early on the first day of camp.

Don’t think I’m bragging about these connections. It’s not because of my vast network.Heck, I’m at the bottom of the list when it comes to numbers of FB friends, LinkedIn connections or Twitter followers (although I say I'm all about quality over quantity) and my Klout score doesn’t even register. There are plenty of folks I’ve been around for years who don’t ever (!) remember my name, no matter how many times I’m introduced (but that’s another post for another day).

All of these connections happened without a single phone call. I emailed and texted and posted on Facebook at strange hours of the day and night and didn’t twist a single arm. My only claim to fame is that I AM the daughter of a man who can ask three questions and figure out a mutual acquaintance, no matter where you put him.

When the first one happened, I smiled. At the second one, I grinned. By the third one, I laughed and just acknowledged that the world is small and filled with pretty wonderful people who are usually willing to help if they’re asked.

Now it’s your turn…..ever made a connection that bested Bacon’s or Karinthy’s six degrees?