Most of us remain greedy.
Mignon McLaughlin
If you have spent some time in any social networking site, you know it can be an exciting place. You can meet people you would never have met otherwise. Conversations can run the gamut between personal stuff to professional solutions.
Few delights can equal the mere presence
of one whom we trust utterly.
George MacDonald
If you want to make money on the Internet, litter your sites with Google AdWords and hope for the best. If you want to lock in deep connections with others, have more conversations.
There is still evidence that direct mail and telemarketing work for some situations but if you want to secure a strong cemented rapport with others, it will take time. And that time, is well worth it.
One must be fond of people and trust them,
if one is not to make a mess of life.
E.M. Forster
We often toss around words like friend, follower and connection with wild abandon while travelling in these channels. How many friends are you finding? Of those you follow, who is offering you value? Are you holding up your end of the bargain? How many of your connections do you trust?
If we are talking about business transactions, this is about creating win/wins which will gain people's trust.
You may be deceived if you trust too much,
but you will live in torment unless you trust enough.
Frank Crane
I tweeted last night that I would help five people in my Twitter stream on actual client issues. One hour, on Skype to talk about something that will help their business. No strings, no scams, no client theft, real help. We'll see what happens.
Life happens at the level of events, not of words.
Trust movement.
Alfred Adler
A study released a couple of months ago suggested that the more time we spend online conversing with each other, the more damage we do to our own social skills. It’s odd that ‘social’ is in the name yet it seems to be the most difficult part of this process.
Our distrust is very expensive.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
At PodCamp Toronto in February, someone admitted that events like that intimidate them and they were much more comfortable talking with people in the comfort of their own home office. If you can form friendships, meet new colleagues and gain trust, you will win.
What has been the biggest benefit to you from social media?
@knealemann
photo credit: www.skydive.ie
photographer: dave clarke
26 comments:
Interesting question, with not one answer. Toward the top of the list - learning. It would have been much more difficult to set up my blog, work my way through the maze of SEO info, be a consistent blogger, and the list goes on... without the input, help and support of my sm network.
The other evening a client had a mortgage question I simply did not know the answer to. First I turned to Google, but no specific answer was available. A quick blub on Facebook, a quick tweet, and within an hour I had several answers. It was late but the next morning the phone rang, and the voice of a twitter/mortgage broker was on the other end making sure I had the answers.
Q. Who does things like that?
A. People who care - strangers who are becoming friends through SM
Social Media is no different than real life - trust must be earned. But in order to want others' trust, you must be truth worthy. Too often people want it for free but aren't willing to give it for free. Keep searching for those you trust.
Sharon/Vancouver
Hey Kneale,
Another great blog, we spent a lot of time talking about sites and tools and gadgets and software and forget the human stuff. Trust is huge and you need to take a leap of faith once in a while. Brian.
Trust is gigantic to me. I can't wait for Chris Brogan and Julien Smith's book "Trust Agents" - perhaps that was an inspiration for this post?
I've noticed a lot of disgruntled people online lately because there is too much talk of theories and blue horizons and not enough specific information.
I realize that client confidentiality is very important but people can still help each other with more specific help, in my opinion.
Great post, thanks for sharing it.
Tim
Heather,
That is exactly what I'm talking about - thank-you so much for sharing that story with specifics!
km
Sharon,
Excellent points! Sometimes we forget that there are humans with fears and worries and stress and success stories to share.
Thanks for taking the time to comment here! km
Hey Brian,
We do need to tools but it's no different than questioning what a t-shirt or a coffee cup "does". Neither do anything on their own. That's the same with the spaces and sites we occupy. km
Tim,
Chris and Julien's book was an influence and I look forward to reading it as well. But on a bigger scale, perhaps a more personal level, there has been a lot of talk about generalities vs. specifics. I hope we can - with respect of clients - share more ideas that may work for others. km
Like Heather, there is a great deal of learning, particularly in areas that are out of my comfort zone. I also feel a sort of accountability that I blog more regularly. Another marvelous gift is being introduced by Twitter friends to possible business leads and a podcast interview.
This amazes me as Twitter creates such brief conversations so persistence becomes important. If someone intrigues you, engage with that person. It is a lot easier to refer qualified leads, provide resources, or give advice when you get to know one another.This builds trust as it would in-person.
Elli,
If it wasn't for Twitter, conversations and trust would not have happened between us. Now we compare notes and help each other out.
Case rested. And thanks! km
It's learning and meeting new people from a broad array of backgrounds and locations. The diversity of points of view I can engage with easily is often very useful.
Do I trust the people in my social network? No different than in the rest of my life and work, the answer will always depend on what I am considering trusting them with. As the risk increases so too does my due diligence. Yet I do believe I have already met some people that I will have long standing relationships with and some with whom I will actually collaborate.
Yes indeed, I DO trust my network! :-) @murnahan
Well, it was worth RTing! @verwon
RT @zaibatsu: RT @murnahan Do You Trust Your Social Network? http://bit.ly/OLWUT via @knealemann @AxonPost
NewbieBizCenterRT @verwon: RT @murnahan: Do You Trust Your Social Network? http://bit.ly/OLWUT via @knealemann
pripperRT @murnahan: Do You Trust Your Social Network? http://bit.ly/OLWUT via @knealemann
What I've learned from social media is that there can be a lot of "you can" and not so much "you do".
Theory is great - to a degree. But practice is where the real value comes in. So many are still telling us we should be in the theory stage - show me the practice instead.
Apart from that, social media has shown me that I can still have faith in the human spirit.
I earned a secret heartbreak, which made me stronger, and more surer of myself.
And I also earned the friends who held my hand and made me laugh through those sad days without asking questions, without knowing what they are comforting me for. The heartbreak is gone, but the friends will remain.
Wonderful insights!
I'd have to say my biggest benefit from Social Media (especially Twitter) is to have reached out to others, and for others to have reached out to me.
In addition, since I've begun Social Media relationships I've become more trusting, and this has greatly changed my personality for the better. One of the ways that it's changed me is that I am much more outgoing and willing to meet and talk to others -- which is a tremendous benefit and surprise to me!
Finally, I'd like to say -- trust takes time to grow. Relationships take time to grow. If you feel like you're not getting a lot out of Twitter, give it a little more time. Give of yourself. Start conversations, write good posts and tweet them, create hashtags, suggest fun, create positivety through quotes and teaching and example, share interesting facts, knowledge, news, and ideas, have fun with your followers, share a "can do" attitude, inspire, share yourself, and do what you can to help others. Do what you can to help individuals, as well as make the whole of Twitter a better place!
Soon you'll find that after giving of yourself that you'll soon be making good friends on Twitter, who will come to value you. Your network will grow in both quantity and quality. You will have a lot of Twitter friends, who you may find yourself as close to as those friends who aren't online.
So stick it out. Relationships in life TAKE TIME. Give it some good time -- let your relationships grow and develop slowly -- and soon they'll just take off!krissy knox :)
visit my main blog: Sometimes I Thinkfollow me on twitter:
www.twitter.com/iamkrissy
Danny,
You are proof that trust can be found your social network. Your work with the 12for12k.org challendge, you have proven how quickly your network can grow globaly. Keep it up, brother! km
Surya,
You have experienced both side of real life through your social network and I'm glad that friendship has prevailed. km
Krissy,
Wonderful comments, I can't add much more - yes, go to Krissy's blog and read some inspiring stories! km
Danny,
You are proof that trust can be found your social network. Your work with the 12for12k.org challendge, you have proven how quickly your network can grow globaly. Keep it up, brother! km
I earned a secret heartbreak, which made me stronger, and more surer of myself.
And I also earned the friends who held my hand and made me laugh through those sad days without asking questions, without knowing what they are comforting me for. The heartbreak is gone, but the friends will remain.
It's learning and meeting new people from a broad array of backgrounds and locations. The diversity of points of view I can engage with easily is often very useful.
Do I trust the people in my social network? No different than in the rest of my life and work, the answer will always depend on what I am considering trusting them with. As the risk increases so too does my due diligence. Yet I do believe I have already met some people that I will have long standing relationships with and some with whom I will actually collaborate.
Like Heather, there is a great deal of learning, particularly in areas that are out of my comfort zone. I also feel a sort of accountability that I blog more regularly. Another marvelous gift is being introduced by Twitter friends to possible business leads and a podcast interview.
This amazes me as Twitter creates such brief conversations so persistence becomes important. If someone intrigues you, engage with that person. It is a lot easier to refer qualified leads, provide resources, or give advice when you get to know one another.This builds trust as it would in-person.
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