Are you connected?

I just came across a title at the local bookstore which I found interesting, entitled, Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives.

It analyzes how much our interactions with others -- even indirect interactions with, say, a friend of a friend of a friend -- can have widespread effects on our socio-economic status and even overall sense of well-being.

It got me to thinking how important our extended social circles are, especially when faced with sudden emergencies or disasters; i.e., if things got difficult, would our connections help or hinder us?

Since most jobs are never advertised, social networking often profoundly affects socio-economic status. And is the way people found their spouses.

Depending on the difficulty, our social connections could be all one has left.

As many people in this economic crisis have already discovered.

Facebook has linked me up with friends who I have lost touch with for over 20 years, both military and civilian. I've found family that moved over the world. I haven't FB'd anyone form this or other sites mainly for personal security reasons.

Mind you an "equipped" FB page would get my vote.

I have discovered that doing small favors or kindnesses for people (even strangers) can unexpectedly turn into larger paybacks, even if you weren't expecting anything.

Dagney: "...our social connections could be all one has left" ... Truer words were never spoken (or typed).

Sue

I` on facebook and myspace but rarely login, maybe once a month probably more no the lines of once every 2 or 3 months... I talk to people on AIM/Yahoo/MSN etc.. or e-mail. I don't really care if you had a good dinner last night, or saw the latest movie :P L O L

There's no doubt in my mind that social interaction plays a huge role in just about every aspect of life. And I don't mean things like Facebook or any other virtual community but real, personal face to face contact.

In my experience it's a lot like Dagny said. The best jobs are never advertised or are impossible to get for an outsider without any personal connections. I've been privileged enough to get a very attractive position at the very start of my career, which is especially significant given that my profession is highly specialized and finding a decent job is extremely hard for a person fresh out of the university with no prior experience. Much of it had to do with the fact that I studied hard and accomplished a fair bit in my time. But if it weren't for some personal intervention and recommendations from people way higher up the food chain there is no way I'd ever get a decent chance to do what I'm doing now.

I'm not saying you should promote yourself loudly at every opportunity. I happen to be a fairly modest person myself. But if you want to succeed at just about anything in life you need to get in touch with people who share your interests or are involved in the same line of work. If you're good at what you do this interaction will help your career and reputation enormously.

The whole social network thing is a new paradigm and is having an impact on how we all "do business" and/or relate to each other. I got a lay off notice last month and am looking for work and the first thing the highly paid consultants told us was to join Linked In and build a profile and network.

While I've only been on there for a few weeks it has been very interesting on how the web of connections keeps crossing over and I find I know someone who knows someone that I could use for information on the job search. The whole network thing is still a bit strange to me but I can see the value and it is "working" for me in connecting to more information and possibilities I would otherwise have.

For good or ill, they (the networks) are here to stay so my thinking is to take part in them, with caution, and leverage what value they can provide to me.

Another thought on this topic has occurred to me today... this social connectivity is not new, just the way we do it. The technology with 'facebook' Linkedin and the other sites are the new 'Elks Club' in our virtual world. Back 40 years ago when "Bob" lost his job at the neighborhood car dealer, his wife "Sue" would talk to one of her friends at the PTA or Girl Scouts or whatever and that woman would talk to her husband about "Bob" and a few days later "Bob" would be offered a job at the dealership in the next town over that is run by the brother-in-law of his wife's friend.

That's social networking... just like when my Grandpa got the guy next door some help one winter with his heat when he wasn't working by talking to some friends at the club they belonged to and they, as he would say, "took care of it." My guess is that there is still a lot of that going on yet today.

So, I say stay in touch with others on-line, at the family picnic, with that group of guys you play poker with twice a month. Being social is a natural thing and should be a part of any long range planning for the 'unexpected' in life. The author of Connected is onto something but it sounds a lot like common sense to me. Be careful not to get "lost" in the on-line stuff and be realistic. This group is an excellent example of how to do it very well and right.

I no longer have a Facebook, MySpace, or a Twitter account. I have 3 e-mail addresses and only check 2 of them (one work and one personal). I do have 3 different phone number, though (one work cell, one personal cell, and home phone).

That said, I spend very little time with email of phone calls and never text. I peruse this forum and a few others on a daily basis, though.

I'm not very networked, and I'm okay with that.

I have a twitter account, yet have let it sit dormant for a few months. Was fun for a week or so then seemed pretty silly. Facebook, myspace, the like nope. Two email accounts that I guard, one for school/personal and one for everything else. I have a personal cell mostly. I mainly check in with home and talk/text to ladies with it. I live in my hometown, and can not leave my home without running into someone I know. I am building a network at my college, now I actually see people I know pretty regularly. All in all I am less networked than many of my peers, but am not stone-age either. I don't understand why you would want to be. I miss the days of land line phones. Important meant you had to physically find the person. All of this digital age stuff seems so impersonal. I will ignore text messages and phone calls because I really could care less that some one is bored. Also, I consider it rude to walk around yakking on a cell in public, I don't want to know your business, so please don't make me listen to it while I am trying to find french cut green beans. Most of my jobs have been found by putting in applications for a week or so. I mean all day, mass flooding of my area, then checking up on them in a day or two. I have gotten a few pick-up jobs from fellow church members but those usually are short-term quick cash deals.

I've found a large social network - a lot of slight connections - is the most important thing you can have in life, in any and all situations.

It's interesting, that "connections" equates to "online contacts" these days.

Internet aside, I've found it very useful to get to know my next-door neighbors. For example: During the last major snowstorm, we all helped one another dig out cars and check on the elderly. Also, some of our neighbors have connections with the local authorities, which has also proven helpful.

I agree - but for me there's not a bright line between online and offline anymore.

offer u ort. doing a favor may be small for us ,but big to others

I agree with pforeman. "Networking" has been around as long as people, it's just been adapted to recent technology and many have lost their non-techno social "network".
We have many social webs, through neighbors, friends, family, Church, clubs and service organizations, and so on that have nothing to do with technologcal devices. We need to remember those, and get back to makeing better stronger ties in them as tech. may not always be available.