Do I have to tell you that social networking is an important part of marketing yourself, your site, and your business? I didn’t think so. Sometimes, though, I think we can all use a reminder of what social networking is fundamentally all about. Fortunately for us The CommonCraft Show has created a good video that explains very simply what a social network is and why it works so well online.
Found via Search Engine Guide. Thanks Jen.
In the words of the video’s creators:
This video is for people who wonder why social networking web sites are so popular. We think one reason is because they help solve a real-world problem. We’ll let the video explain how it works.
The video isn’t necessarily anything new or earth shattering, but it is a reminder of what social networking is really all about and lets us all take a step back for a moment from the grind of trying to figure out how to get other people to digg or bookmark your content. When you have a better understanding of what’s really at the core of something it makes it that much easier to profit from the edges.
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The thing with social networking sites such as Facebook, and yes I’ve tried this, is that none of the people within my social network really seem to communicate. 99.9% of people seem to add each other, and that’s it.
It’s one of those things that I don’t think will ever really be useful as a marketing gimmick, particularly when SEO-types try to exploit them.
Correction: I should say “seemed” to communicate. I don’t have a Facebook account anymore for that reason.
Adam it’s true that not all networks are the same. Some are certainly going to provide more benefit than others. I’m on a lot of those same networks and I’ve joined many communities and done little more.
But I think we all have the ability to find better and more active networks. Some of it has to come to us and how we approach networking. I agree completely it’s meaningless if used as a marketing gimmick, but if you form honest relationships with people I think there’s a lot of benefit in networking.
Steve do you like the site because you find it valuable or because it’s your site?
Yeah, I’d agree with that, Steven. If people actually communicate with each other, then it definitely has some merit. But people don’t, and that’s what will kill this idea and may well wreck social networking sites in the process.
I think a lot of it though is about finding the good networks or networking your way to the people that can help you. You can’t just blame the network. We’re part of those networks and have to shoulder a little of the blame.
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