Networking the Social Media Way: Networking has always been an important aspect of connecting with professional contacts.

Networking is about building relationships with people for mutual benefit in an intentional and organized manner. As Human Resource professionals in private and public organizations, or as consultants, networking helps us meet and learn from other professionals. Traditionally this has been face-toface; however networking is becoming increasingly technologically-based. Face-to-face opportunities are usually short and require subsequent meetings or other ways to share information and gain credibility. Not everyone has the opportunity to meet others face-toface due to geographical and financial reasons, or work constraints. Matthew Moran, author of the IT Career Builders Toolkit, has a great quote about networking. Matthew transformed the old phrase, its not what you know, its who you know into a valuebased phrase that describes his belief in the underlying value of professional networking: it isnt who you know, but who knows you and knows what you know. This is a purposeful statement about connecting with other professionals. Social media provides the perfect platform for sharing information and gaining credibility from other professionals. Face-to-face meetings either before or after making an online connection helps strengthen the relationship; social media helps accelerate the connection to a network of other professionals. How different is networking in person to networking using social media? The interpersonal skills are the same to network effectively; respect, genuine interest in other people, listening, being positive, offering information, etc. MC Hammer, the music star turned digital marketer states that social media is just an extension of what you do naturally (Hubspot, 2009). If you are a people-person in real life and have solid networking skills, the same will hold true on social media. The opposite is true as well. If you have poor communication skills or dont enjoy networking, this will be reflected in the use of social media. Social media is an amplifier for both strengths and weaknesses. The bottom line: dont ignore your soft skills like listening and networking. In the past few years, social media tools have dramatically changed how we communicate and interact. These tools have closed the geographic gap and allowed people to foster relationships with colleagues they never previously thought possible. In just six years Facebook has grown to over 800 million users and is on track to reach one billion users by August 2012 (Wasserman, 2012). In fact, if Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest country in the world. Facebook is not the only social network to experience dramatic growth. LinkedIn and Twitter have over 150 and 200 million members, respectively (Lynley, 2012; van den Beld, 2011). What does this growth mean to you as a professional? Not participating on these networks means that you potentially may be missing out on hundreds of networking opportunities. With all these networks, and new ones launching every day, where do you start? What networks

are the most useful to you as a professional? There may be niche social networks that apply to your profession, but for the most part, your networking activities should be limited to the big three: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook While Facebook has the largest user-base; people are less likely to connect with colleagues or professional acquaintances, because of the personal nature of the network. That being said, there are some points to consider about Facebook when undertaking networking using social media:

Connecting with business or organizations Facebook pages allows you to stay connected to the organization and develop a relationship with them. Privacy settings are so important and should be reviewed on a regular basis. Facebook is consistently implementing new features and privacy changes that affect you. The most recent change being introduced in February 2012 is the Timeline, which dramatically changes your experience on Facebook and affect how your privacy settings work.

Twitter While Facebook is primarily for personal connections and requires friend requests, Twitter is an open network. This is very conducive to professional networking. There are number of items to consider when using Twitter to network: Have a completed profile, including name, bio and photo. People are more likely to connect with you when they see a snapshot of who you are. Grow your network by searching on Twitter for topics that interest you. You can then follow and share information about those topics with those people. As you share valuable industry information, more people will become aware of you on Twitter and connect. LinkedIn When thinking of professional social networks, LinkedIn is often top of mind, and with valid reasons. Some of the features include online resumes, the ability to display recommendations, group discussions, a job board and more. Its this job board feature (as well as many other factors) that may have contributed to the share of the parent company of Monster.com dropping 70% (Zieminski, 2011). Best Practices Whichever social network you decide to use, there are a number of best practices. Following these best practices will help ensure you find success with your online networking activities.

Listen well: listening is the most important tactic on social media. One of leadership expert, Steven Coveys Seven Habits of Highly Effective People states seek first to understand, then to be understood. Listening on social media can alert you to a potential crisis, indicate an opportunity and understand what your colleagues or competition is doing. Be authentic: no one enjoys being around people who seem phony. The same is true on social media. If you have a serious personality, trying to portray yourself as humorous

will seem unnatural, and people will see right through that. Praise in public, criticize in private: people never like being corrected, especially when the world can see. If you come across a blog post, status update or any other social content that has an error, send the author a private message to indicate the error. Social currency: the best way to describe this best practice would be to compare your activity on social media to a bank. If you were to open a bank account today and request to withdraw $5,000 from the bank, the bank would promptly refuse you. If you create an account today and expect to solicit help from your friends/followers, you might hear crickets. You need to contribute to your network or community by providing valuable information, responding to questions and demonstrating value to your network.

Getting Started The level of involvement you decide to have with these networks depends on a number of factors including; available time, comfort level, etc. Another approach for beginning to use social media for networking would be to start with one tool and then add more as you become more comfortable. You will ultimately want to start using social media to network; otherwise youll be missing out. If you want to get started with Twitter and LinkedIn, you can start by reviewing these websites:

Twitter: http://support.twitter.com/articles/100990-how-to-sign-up-on-twitter LinkedIn: http://learn.linkedin.com/new-users/

Enjoy growing your network. Bio These tips are collaboration between Mike McCready and Rosemarri Klamn. Mike is the Web & Social Media Strategist who specializes in customized social media training, consulting and presentations for Lethbridge College. Contact Mike at 403-320-3276 (or michael.mccready@lethbridgecollege.ca) or follow Mikes social media tips at www.mikemccready.ca Rosemarri Klamn is an experienced Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP), who uses her knowledge of career development; human resource management; intercultural relations; and strategic communications as a communications and workforce health manager with the provincial government. Contact Rosemarri at rklamn@shaw.ca.

References Hubspot. (2009, February). MC Hammer on Social Networks. [Webcast transcript]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWiS_-1GVyw Lynley, M. (2012, February 9). LinkedIn Just Hit 150 Million Registered Users. Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-0209/tech/31040558_1_linkedin-members-deep-nishar-new-members van den Beld, B. (2011, July 22). Remember Twitter? Its Still Growing! Retrieved January 15, 2012, from http://www.stateofsearch.com/remember-twitter-its-still-growing-infographic/ Wasserman, T. (2012, January 12). Facebook to Hit 1 Billion User Mark in August [STUDY]. Retrieved January 16, 2012, from http://mashable.com/2012/01/12/facebook-1-billionusers Zieminski, N. (2011, August 24). Insight: Facebook, LinkedIn threaten to slay Monster.com. Retrieved January 10, 2012, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/24/us-monstersocialmedia-idUSTRE77N6QW20110824