Socialnomics? Pfft! That's old news.

There is this thing called socialnomics going around. Heard of it? It's supposed to increase a company's sales percentage simply by using social networking sites. And the cost of using social netowrking? None. Zip. ZERO.

You'd think that would be great news, right? The company doesn't have to worry about investing in heavy marketing campaigns. Woopee!

Think again.

Although it's great that you can get your company's name out there remember that the competition is tough. If you're a marketer...I'm sorry buddy. Maybe you should try viral marketing?

Since advertising is getting to the point where it can cost nothing, maybe at some point the same thing will happen to some luxury products - like what's happening to music.

And about socialnomics...I just wanted to say that getting your company recognized by using social methods is really old stuff. Most latin countries rely mainly on society to increase a company's popularity (can't speak for all latin countries, just those I've lived in). Technology has simply enhanced the communication.

Get a Job or Be Jobless

Now a days, one of our main concerns is to get or stay employed. How do we manage that?

I read an article by Henry Chalian who had gotten bumped off his manager job at J.P Morgan. Apparently LinkedIn helped him to some degree but he is still out of a job.

Jobless. That's a scary word for many of us.

Then an article on the NJ Business News suddenly provided enlightenment. Their advice was: “if they want to find a job they should get out from behind their computer [...] but use social networking skills to widen the number of people that you can connect with when you get out from behind your computer.”

Brilliant advice. They recommended you keep active on the Internet by tweeting, blogging, but not so much as to consume your life. You need real life contacts too.

You Ain't Human - You're a Brand. Sell Yourself.

Ah, the power of commercialism... It's incredible how little by little adverts have come to dominate our purchasing choice. It's even come to the extent that now WE have become products ourselves. We market ourselves for everything nowadays. Jobs, love, friendship. What's next? Will we have to attach little tags specifying price and such?

Oh wait. We've already done that.

Even though marketing oneself through social media is wonderful and convenient I found Tom Peter's article The Brand Called You a bit insulting. Yes, I understand what he's saying and it makes complete sense considering this is the direction in which our society is heading towards...but...doesn't this sound a little too Brave New World-ish? Or maybe Wall-E is a better example. You know, that animated movie in which humans have become blobs of flesh who've completely surrendered themselves to commercial power?

Oh well. Never mind. Mr Peter probably had the best of intentions. I personally love all the advantages that social networking brings us. LinkedIn, Facebook, Smallworld...They're all awesome. I just don't like to be compared to an object.

But yeah...we can't ignore that Tom Peter has a point. We are products to be sold. Our skills should be listed on our self-created websites or blogs or twitter accounts like the tags on the back of your sweater indicating the percentage of wool and polyester used in its making.

If we aren't sweaters to be sold, then we are just wool on the back of a sheep. And you know what happens to sheep? They get eaten by wolves.

So I suggest you start looking at the 7 Secrets to Getting a Job Using Social Media.

You're a Brand. Sell yourself.

What is Social Networking?

Have you ever asked yourself what's a Social Network? You probably have a vague idea of what it might be. If you've come across Hegel, Nietzche, Smith, Marx or Kaufmann you'd probably have a notion of how social herarchies work. But what about the social structure? What role do you play in your network of friends, in your workplace or in your family? Have you taken into consideration how communications are transmitted between the members of your social network?

Alexandra Marin and Barry Wellman's Social Network Analysis: An Introduction presents social networks as "a set of nodes (or network members) that are tied by one or more types of relations" [to see the article click here]. For example, the first relationship you'd have within an organization would probably be with the unknown person you're interchanging e-mails with from the human resources department. Then you'd meet the person, who'd introduce you to the rest of the company and then you'd become "X-person: the intern" whose role is to make photocopies and serve coffee to your cubicled collegues. But is that all there is to it? Is that your only role in the business?

As I have found out, the answer is a big chubby NO. Human relationships and social networking is much more complex than that. First of all there's the way we communicate with the other members of our networks, our relationship with them, the value we give to each individual and the informal roles we take on within a network. That means that even though we may be officially "X-person: the intern" within an organization, to Jerry we might be "X-person: the one who I can depend on to do all the fetch-and-carry work" and to Jane we might be "X-person: the main source of the office gossip".

In Rob Cross and Laurence Prusak's "The People Who Make Organizations Go - or Stop" the informal roles within a company are sketched out and analysed [check out the article here]. If you come to understand the inner threads of your network then communication and tasks would run more efficiently. Actually this knowledge is rather powerful and if you wield it correctly you might find yourself climbing to the higher echelons of your network. In this case you would be able to apply the saying, "It's not a matter of what you know but of who you know." In a way it's sad, but at times this statement rings true. Why do you think there are lobbyists? What do you think politics is? Why did do you think the girl in the miniskirt got into the club first when you've been waiting in line longer than her? Connections, people, connections.

You can compare this example to other contexts, like within your family or your circle of friends. I find it amazing that there is such a thing as an analysis of our functions within society. It's like I know I breath because I need air to live but now I know that the O2 I inhale into my lungs is interchanged by my capilaries for CO2 and used to make my cells function correctly so that my body may keep on moving and thinking efficiently.

Hm. Seems like I retained something out of my biology lesson. Cool.

All this said I guess that means that social capital is just as important as monitary capital within the business world, huh? Maybe that means that my time spent on Facebook is actually productive and will bring me a job in the future...???