Online Social Communities

A recent article on the BBC website about social networks which Cambridge university investigated  on how Facebook can improve social skills contradicts my own belief.  Having teenage children who communicate with me in a series of grunts, and minimal inforrmation I found it hard to believe that Facebook can help improve communication skills.  However, when entering the study on an evening, I find said children engaged with any number of conversations with “friends”, chatting and sharing photographs, clips etc. Generally being nosy looking at people’s profiles and finding out information about them – amazing what some people will post about themselves.   It seems virtual communication is easy, they do not feel inhibited chatting and striking up friendships with complete strangers.  Compare that with putting them in a room of strangers (called relatives  at Christmas get togethers) and they can barely string two words together!!

Online Social communities have a place in today’s society.  A positive spinoff was my daughter starting Northumbria University in September went onto Facebook and found a Northumbria University Freshers online community.  Through this she managed to locate fellow students she would be sharing a flat with when she started.  The transition from home to student life with her new found friends and flatmates was easy .

A research paper publised in October 2008 by the Government regarding Online Social Networks  quotes ” Instead of being limited to a network amongst peers within the schoolyard or workplace, social networking sites are increasingly allowing relationships to be built up with people right across the globe and from all walks of life. Inside these networks, people are now actively collaborating, creating new content and finding a global voice for themselves”   

However, there are warnings to heed, how many parents are aware of just who their children are communicating with?  There are serious lurkers out there who are only too charming and waiting to groom them into unwanted relationships.  The Guardian published an article in April about this and The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre has drawn up legislation to make social sites highlight safety messages in a prominent position.

Like all communities they are made up of every level of humanity.  The online social community may be virtual but it is a short step away from reality and making that step in “real time” communicatin.

2009 and Social Media?

Taking the crystal ball – where will social media be this time next year?  What new innovations will there be?  Or will it just be more of the same?

Will Facebook still be the hottest social networking site?  Will Twitter have uttered its last tweet?  Will we all be creating our own social network sites and then through viral  marketing -  expand their presence?  Seth Godwin in his recent article about Viral Marketing highlighted that there are two types of viral marketing and the most influential and successful is whereby viral is built into the product   – it sells itself – YouTube is a huge example of this.  We forward an interesting site, video clip on through our own huge personal networks.

Will Secondlife which is populated by our AVATARS become the meeting place where we all intereact in a virtual world rather than the one we are in now?  Will it be a better place without War, Famine, Sickness, Politics?  If the Avatars are based on us then much of what we have in our world will follow through into our SecondLife.

Whatever our thoughts, - one thing for sure  is that we will still be communicating by whatever is the latest trend.  Our nature is to share, expound our theories, keep in touch, comment on, share our opinion, voice our thoughts – we need to be heard!

Work Life Balance?

After reading about Work Life Balance  “Is it just a woman’s problem – work life balance in the PR industry” I found myself being quite cynical.  Hey people, there are other professions out there who are suffering  just as much and in some cases more.  Also there are many men and women who are struggling with workload.

Work Life Balance affects all walks of life and any number of situations.  Personally the advent of remote working has extended my working week to evenings and weekends.  As I can access work I find myself thinking I will just do that report, or answer those emails.  Before we could close the door at the office Friday and not worry about it until Monday morning.  With the advent of the “Blackberry” we are never far away from the latest email which requires that immediate response – what happened to good old memos which gave us time to think and respond? Now it seems the norm rather than the exception that many of my colleagues will work evenings and weekends. Mostly just to keep on top of the job.

As to affecting women more, being one myself, I would love a wife!!!  I work more hours than my husband yet still do the majority of the “home work”.  It would be great to come home to a clean house, washing and ironing done, meals bought and cooked – sounds like heaven!  How much of this is down to age, I am definitely not married to “modern man”. 

Is it our own standards that drive us to juggle more plates in the air?  The pressures to succeed at work do not take into account the school run, organising homework, housework, sick children, parents evenings!  Yet we are expected to put 110% in and find time to do all the extra research/work that puts us ahead.

A survey carried out by the Work Life Balance Foundation indicated that 3 out of 4 people thought that they were working very hard; many said they could not imagine working any harder.  1 in 5 people take work home every day.  Flexible working seems to be working one way and that’s in favour of the employer.  All this has negative impacts which will catch up with all of us at some time!

Blogging comments!!!

As a new blogger and finding my way around the number of blogs.  I find a number of interesting items published:

However,  questions spring to mind. 

How many blogs do we leave a comment on?  Personally not that many at the moment.

Do we expect everyone and his dog to reply to our own carefully crafted blogs – because we have taken the time to write something meaningful or not in my own case!

How many of us lurk aroung blogs and never leave a comment – is this a personal comment that we don’t think it worthy? 

Why blog in the first place? 

Are we seeking a comment thus exonerating the time and effort put into creating the blog?

Is the answer quite simply we don’t feel our comment worthy of leaving.  We feel inadequate and not having something witty or relevant or interesting to say – we take the easy option and say nothing!

I have found myself in this position.  After reading a very interesting blog

SocialMediaBlog I did feel moved to write something but again after leaving a comment felt quite glad I was an unknown person as my comment lacked any great substance.

Would we comment more and thus receive greater feedback and produce more interaction if we got over the hurdle of having to write “war and peace” every time we blogged?

So how many comments do I leave on blogs?  Personally not that many at the moment but as my confidence grows and I feel less “new kid on the block” then who knows?!

How many of us lurk – the majority of us – me included.  I have had a number of visitors to my site but not many have left comments – only kind friends and colleagues from my MSc Course mainly – thanks folks!

Why blog?  For me this is an assessed piece of work. Would I have blogged in the normal course of things  – probably not – I’m not the type who thinks what I have to say just has to be out there!

Am I seeking comments – yes as I need the traffic to my site but I also need that confidence boost that what I’ve written has moved others to write back good or bad.  Setting myself up for failure but hoping to be proved wrong

Seth Goodwin comments in his blog “

Doing appears risky, because it exposes you to criticism and perhaps failure. Experiencing is hot right now, being part of the social network, helping maintain that online tribe you belong to. “ 

Thanks for this Seth I’ll follow your advice and keep up the experiencing.