So over the last few blog posts we have looked at ways in which websites will provide you with a very different web experience today and over the next 24 months. A web that brings your search results based on what your friends clicked on and a buying experience based on what others in your social network (like Facebook) have bought. A web where users can update their status, post photos, and play games with friends directly within web enabled appliances like Xbox Live!
But this is just a look forward …. what about a look backwards? And what does this mean for our future?
What it means is that your Social Capital will be a very important asset to you. Perhaps even as important as your home. (see an Avaya colleague of mine – Jim Keenan’s blog post – Why Your Social Graph Will Be Worth as Much as Your Home)
What currently looks like islands of Social activity in various Social Networks will begin to control your life …. the jobs you get, the schools you go to. Those that have weak Social Capital will become the equivalent of Social Outcasts …. not able to get the killer job at the financial institution or accepted into Harvard because they have very low Social Capital.
Who would you rather hire …. the person with 2 followers on Twitter and no Facebook or LinkedIn account or the person with 2000 followers on Twitter and a huge network on Facebook and LinkedIn with 36 glowing recommendations! I know who I would rather have.
This means all this work you are putting into your Facebook profile, LinkedIn account and Twitter followers will all pay off for you and your family. You should spend an hour a day building your profiles, connecting with people, friending more, engaging in more conversations and generally building up your Social Capital.
At first I used to wonder why we were all doing these social activities, I asked people on my podcast series …. so where is this all going? And now its clear to me we aren’t just messing around and wasting time …. we are building one of the most important assets of our lives.
Tags: Facebook, Social Media
Hi Paul,
You said, “Those that have weak Social Capital will become the equivalent of Social Outcasts …. not able to get the killer job at the financial institution or accepted into Harvard because they have very low Social Capital.” Are you referring to a strong online social graph as the cause of the above?
Which would I hire? I think raw numbers mean very little. I’d be more impressed with the candidate who showed me what he/she was able to accomplish or achieve with two followers than one with 2,000 followers — and nothing to show for it.
@ Paul – yes and more to the point the rise of many strong social graphs – how do you compete and differentiate?
@ Jonathan – great point – the quality of those followers and how you can marshall those followers is the topic of a whole other blog post!