Connected Well

Overhearing a few conversations yesterday drove home the point to me that Twitter (or identi.ca or pownce, plurk or even email) is really simply a way to have conversations.

Kumbaya, and all that

This screenshot from my twitter feed shows @cachedout bumming about his speeding ticket (bottom image). Seconds later, @littleidea replies in-kind (see top image). Misery loves company. Speeding ticket recipients are not immune from this most-basic human desire.

What you say is irrelevant.

Who you say it to is highly relevant.

And, the network will pwn you if you say things too far out of context, or without consideration of who you are talking to.

Yet, the network will <3 you if you show up real, human, and relevant. Using twitter for business? That’s a lot different than just using it to catch up with friends on Friday night, or to keep tabs on your family.

Crossover posts? No problem sometimes, but beware the implications. Sharing a great insight from a book to your friends isn’t dangerous. But, joking with your friends about how out of control Friday night got, and your co-workers are listening in… might come back to get you.

Rahhb Networking, Social Networking, Tools communicating, communication, conversation, funny, human, identi.ca, listening, plurk, pownce, pwn, sharing, talking, twitter

Tamar Weinberg writes a detailed and extensive blog post over at Techipedia titled: “Quantum Entanglements: The Social Media Scandals” where she discusses a recent scandalous social meltdown.

What can you say about a beautiful girl who died?

I can tell you that when I read this news, I cried off and on the rest of the day. I can also tell you that Kaycee Nicole did not, technically, exist. She was created and portrayed entirely by her “mother”, Debbie Swenson, a middle-aged Midwestern housewife with some serious issues. For nearly two years, thousands followed and supported this fictional construct as she fought a deadly disease, an astonishing run when you consider the challenges involved.

Social media, by definition, pulls at you and draws you in. You *want* to trust, you want to believe, you want to participate… and when someone needs something that you might have (money), you want to give.

The old rule still applies to Social Networks, as well as the Internet at-large… and ANY PUBLIC COMMUNITY (even your neighborhood): “Trust… but verify!”

Be safe out there.

Rahhb Social Networking chipin, Kaycee Nicole, phishing, plurk, problems, scandal, social network, Social Networking, socialnetworks, theft, twitter