Nika Dixon

I’m curious as to why so many people are afraid of Social Networking.

According to Berkley, a Social Network is defined as this:

We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.

Social Networking websites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Bebo, and a host of others allow us to keep in touch with friends and family, meet people who have the same interests, and make connections in our personal and business lives that would not otherwise exist.

Why is Social Networking such a horror to so many business owners?

If people meet in person to chit-chat, exchange personal stories and catch up on each other’s lives, then it’s perfectly fine. But if people meet online to chit-chat, exchange personal stories and catch up on each other’s lives, then it’s an atrocity and must be stopped.

Personally? I don’t see the difference.

Where I am now, I was told that I can not use MSN because it can’t be monitored. If I said something to someone that was rude, they wouldn’t be able to “police me”. My question in return was, what’s the difference between that and the phone? I can call someone at their desk and tell them they are an idiot, or I could walk to their desk and tell them they area an idiot, or I could get them on MSN and tell them they are an idiot.

They aren’t tracking my phone calls. And no one’s following me with a tape recorder. Of all three examples, the MSN one is the most secure because of the user’s ability to save an electronic copy of their conversation. They could also make a screen capture of it to prove that I called them an idiot.

Instead of stopping to take the time to be educated and learn about social networking, the benefits of keeping in touch with friends and contacts in the industry, many organizations choose to ban it.

Generation Gap – Net Generation vs Baby Boomers

I firmly believe that this problem is directly related to the age of the workforce. The upper echelons (Director, VP, CEO, etc…) are almost always an older generation. They’re the baby-boomers. They were not born of the technical generation, and because they didn’t use the technology to get where they are, they believe they don’t need it, and neither does any one else.

The problem (and it’s a BIG problem) with that way of thinking, is that the world is changing around them, and while these business owners are hiding in their office, their tech-savvy competition is stealing away their users, their consumers, their employees. When these upper level executives finally decide to step out from behind their big oak desks, they’re going to find themselves lost and alone.

Can we do anything to stop it?

Not if they’re not willing to learn.