Social Networking ... Today, Yesterday!

Shiv Singh has written an interesting piece about how facebook is blurring the lines between personal and professional lives. Interesting because this is something which we can see all around us. And interesting also because i dont think this is completely owing to facebook, or the social networking phenonomenon which is all around.


My two bits ... the way i see it, the lines between professional and personal lives have never been completely well defined. They have always been blurred. Remember those networking dinners? Office parties, and the kind of chatting that goes on? Human beings are social ... and, human beings need to network, because none of us are in a position to do everything that we need all by ourselves. Ergo, social networking.

Having said that, the technology wave is definitely catalyzing things, and the sheer scope and breadth of social networks today is remarkable. Having said this, this is true of a whole host of technologies. Take CRm, for example ... the entire idea of CRM has been built around something which the neighbourhood grocer has been doing for ages, although on a totally different scale.

On to the most interesting part ... the reach which social networking gives us. Just to give some statistics ... On linkedin i have (at the time of writing) 200 connections, which gives me access to a network of more than 2 million people (at least theoretically). The numbers are mind-boggling. That, to my mind, is the real secret behind social networking.