Social Networking for Professionals

During one of our most recent class discussions we learned about LinkedIn and other social networks businesses are beginning to utilize. Generally our generation thinks of Facebook and Myspace when we hear the term “social network.” However, traditional social networking is displaying more professional qualities because as the old adage states, it’s not about how much you know, it’s about who you know.

After researching the impact of social networking in the business world, I discovered an interesting article focusing on virtual meetings and the professional advantages of services such as LinkedIn and Ryze. Although Facebook and Myspace, have proven to be effective in terms of expanding friendships and relationships they have yet to delve into professional networking. According to the article, online professional networking is becoming an extensive source of information and a method of facilitating communication. Also, the White Paper stated business networking is a perfect way to expand their personal networks and encourage content development through interaction.

LinkedIn helps professionals create an online profile with their professional accreditations and goals. Individuals can then network with other contacts, also allowing the user to see the networks of others. As we discussed in our class discussion of LinkedIn, it eliminates the mundane exchange of business cards and the risk of losing contact information. According to the article, networking sites similar LinkedIn have the potential to eliminate face to face meetings with the growing capabilities of web-based, live communication. Through these applications interviews, introductions and meetings can be conducted through a professional environment from offices throughout the world.

Professional networking can also be used to effectively create business events and group development. Groups can communicate instantaneously and continuously via networking applications. Constant communication is an important way to evolve group efficiency and establish goal congruency among the members. Also, the White Paper stated that two-way communication is vital among professionals as well as customers. According to the article, LinkedIn helps professionals not only search within contacts but also search within various industries. Both the contact and industry search make it relatively simple for a professional to develop a target audience for their business events.

In the future, many professionals believe that business networking will become a primary method of meeting other businesspeople and exchanging information. New applications and increased popularity will force networking sites to develop subscription and membership fees if they have not already done so. However, cost is a small factor because professionals are realizing the benefits of network expansion in a virtual sense.

Negativity is Everywhere

With one of the most negative elections occurring less than a week ago it was it was ironic that I came across this article that focused on negativity and its online impact. Several websites such as justrage.com and mybiggestcomplaint.com are solely devoted to the concept of venting negative feelings and are often inappropriate. Before observing these websites I never realized the amount of negative perceptions and feelings flowing through the internet, for example the first item displayed on justrage.com is “Angry? Tell us about it.”

We have learned throughout our class discussions that the Internet can be used negatively for purposes such as flaming and bullying. Within this article it alluded to the important point that individuals can remain anonymous online, thus saying things they would not have normally said in person. Many people find it difficult to be aggressive in face to face communication because you have to live up to your remarks and people can be judged by their moods and facial movements. The article also stated that people attempt to convey power and voice their opinions through their internet rants.

Negativity is also present in celebrity websites and blogs. For example self-proclaimed gossip columnist Perez Hilton has grown in popularity for his famous rants and raves of celebrities. We have also seen internet negativity displayed in such movies Mean Girls. This movie involves teenagers starting rumors about other students and which is done very easily via the Internet. Comments by teenagers can travel instantly and theoretically have worldwide ramifications. This type of cyber bullying is an easy method individuals utilize to convey negativity through rumors and intimidation.

Sadly teenagers such as Megan Meier, have lost their lives to rumors or hoaxes through cyber bullying and online vitriol. In order to prevent more devastating moments, many websites have become accustom to flagging. In our Metasecurity article, we learned that several websites such as the WELL and craigslist are self policing themselves by flagging inappropriate content.

In an earlier class reading we discovered that online negativity and anger has led many people to misinterpret online messages because of egocentrism. People often have difficulty detaching themselves from their own perspective and can not identify with others perspectives. The spread of egocentrism has also led to the influx of online negativity.

CMC has made it easy to promote violence in many different ways and the ramifications are often large. The only way to prevent this negativity from spreading is for parents to monitor their children’s online activity. It is impossible to prevent these types of incidents from happening in the real world and online, however websites must be held accountable for user activity on their sites.

The Virtual Economy of Second Life

Following our Second Life experience I decided to research a little deeper into the virtual economy within this online community. Being a Business Administration, I guess you could say I was curious learn about the monies exchanged, Linden Dollars, and the idea of businesses being established within Second Life. Also, I was curious to see if the characteristics of the virtual economy differed from our current economic struggles. Much of Second Life’s economy is directed towards socializing which is a characteristic we learned through our Literature Review reading. The more members want to socialize, the more money they are likely to spend in the virtual attempting to fit in with the online society. The article I discovered has many different interesting perspectives from CEO Matt Kingdon on the future and maturity of Second Life.

Similar to other products, Second Life’s hype is beginning to settle down and many of the members are beginning to look at the long term success of this virtual community. From a business standpoint this is completely normal for a product to be highly anticipated and then begin to mature. Although Second Life has followed this pattern, their software and products must remain innovative to expand their target audience.

Second Life is remaining innovative because businesses such as Best Buy are purchasing real estate to advertise and creating informational kiosks that can be utilized in this virtual world. Surprisingly the influence of businesses does not stop here. According to the article, businesses are also using this virtual community as method of recruiting, product demonstrations and training sessions. It appears that the line between the real world and virtual world is blurred with the expanding capabilities of Second Life.

Businesses are enhancing their CMC through Second Life. They are beginning to conduct virtual meetings and workshops in order to develop prototype products. Virtual conferencing does provide several advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is the possibility of synchronous communication that we discussed in Successful Strategies in Online Education, because conversations occur from various locations simultaneously. However it is difficult for businesses to adhere to their core values, ethics and quality through the method of Second Life virtual conferencing.

Our business world and more specifically our economy is under intense scrutiny and if businesses are not careful they can tarnish their reputation if they neglect to monitor their online activity. Overall it will be interesting to see what the future holds for Second Life and their developing economy.