You’re on all the social networks. You’re on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, Youtube, Digg and MySpace. And they’re just the popular ones. You might also be on Ping, Stumbleupon, Sphinn, Delicious, Tumblr, Ning and countless others.
Maybe you’re just on a few and maximizing your connections. Or maybe you’re on dozens and trying to say something different on each.
But no matter how many you’re on, there’s one single question you should be asking.
Who do you know?
If one or many of these networks crashed overnight, would you still be available to your current connections? Would you still be able to speak to them outside the network(s) that have crashed?
If so, great. If not, why not?
Sure, it may be that you break down connections into sub-topics: business, friends, influence, information, miscellaneous, etc. So, for argument’s sake, say there are only 100 of all your online connections that you’d be lost without if the system died.
Would you still be able to connect with these 100 people tomorrow if the network died tonight?
If there are people that you want to connect with, and stay connected with, maybe it’s time to ask for that connection. An email address, or a phone number, or simply an Instant Messenger or Skype ID.
Some connections will be happy to share. Some won’t. And that’s natural. A lot depends on the level of connection, privacy, scale and more. If you do ask and it’s a polite No, don’t be offended. Think of it like normal friendships and connections, where you know some people better than others.
But the connections that count – don’t you want to keep them that way?
Enjoy this post? You might also like:
More from across the web:
- 3 Ways Facebook is Killing Your Website (Convince & Convert)
Twitter: southplatte
Excellent point. Harvesting my contact’s email addresses now – you’re first on the list
Actually, though, I had never thought of this – guess that’s why I read your blog.
Thanks Danny,
It is a good idea to keep in contact with people that you find valuable, I have subscribed to you RSS using Feedly, so at least I can keep in contact with you, and you have my email so that’s good. I’m thinking it might be time for me to update my email list as well. If the whole network goes down . . . look for smoke signals from the Vancouver area, lol.
Have a great day!
Jorin.
Twitter: ariherzog
Great fodder.
I’ll add more…
If you’re on LinkedIn, do you have a PDF copy of your profile *and* a CSV copy of your contacts? You can get both with two mouse clicks.
If you’re on Twitter, do you have a copy of your contacts? As I type this, I am downloading a php backup via TwitterSafe, per the review here.
Great advice, Ari. I’d done that with LinkedIn and will check out the Twitter option.
Twitter: frankreed
Danny,
After the week I had with everything taking a dump on me this is a great reminder. Fortunately I had started to back up stuff pretty frequently so when everything went south I wasn’t completely S.O.L.
Hadn’t thought about the stuff that isn’t local though. I use a lot of web based services and just ‘assume’ everything is OK (we know what assume means).
Not anymore. Thanks for the reminder.
I guess we always rely on the links that take us to our network connections but never think further than “what if they all disappear tomorrow” To be honest I think with the wealth of the internet there is always a way of tracking down people regardless. But to save time it would probably be advisable to take note of ways of keeping track of how to get in touch with people. we just take it for granted those sociable websites will always be around.
What a terrific reminder indeed! Thank you!
I personally have limited my “social networking” to 3 at the most. Sure, I have profiles set up everywhere but it’s a daunting task trying to manage so many/keeping up with everyone…I like quality over quantity so I cultivate accordingly…and in the end, as you said, it’s all about who you know!
I’ve been purging over the last few weeks regarding networks. I think it’s like most things – a shiny new toy to play with and see if it has any value. The ones I’ve kept are definitely the ones that I know I’d miss.
Funny this thought occurred to me recently when Twitter was having major hiccups. I will follow the advise of many that have commented here. Thanks again Danny – always educating me!
I like this post. It makes you think. All my Facebook friends I either have their physical address, phone number or email. Twitter, very few. If it crashed, I would lose most of those followers. need to make the connection more personal, ask if they would connect on another network, or, be so kind to give me their email address, to stay in touch. It’s a good excuse to take the network beyond the network, and really get to know people.
Twitter: lipdesign
Created email lists of my Twitter friends, Inspirers and the 3 women who are coaching me. I’m covered. Yeah, you’re on my list!