Network Networth
At last count, I have more than 700 Facebook friends.
This isn’t to brag at all, and before last week it might have been a complaint. It seems like every few minutes I get another notification about something, and while I genuinely want to be kept up-to-date, 700+ lives are a lot to keep tabs on. Or so I thought.
Last week, a real-life friend I haven’t seen in person for a solid 4 years invited me to spearhead a theater project which involved reaching out to a relatively new Facebook friend to ask him to join. While I can’t go into specifics of the project quite yet, I can say that without social media it simply wouldn’t be happening.
While there are definite downsides to social media, there’s much to be said for its connective power. Here are some tools that I’ve been taking advantage of for years but never stopped to think about until now:
- Groups. This one seems the most obvious, but I’ve found everything from “life hacks” to a barely-used sofa to job prospects in social media groups. It’s easy to join groups that interest you as an individual, but more rewarding to join groups in an area you’re still learning. I’m in the National Association of Black Journalists Facebook group and it’s been amazing to learn from industry professionals.
- Mutual friends. Online or not, mutual friends are a huge step in building credibility and a network. As I looked back on it, almost every job or volunteer position I’ve ever gotten has been through mutual friends, whether I knew it or not. My first official job ever was at an after-school program. I listed my drama teacher as a reference and was asked casually how I knew her at my final interview with the company’s director. “She’s my teacher!” I said. “She’s my sister!” was my new boss’s response.
- Notifications. This is a double-edged sword. Work-life balance is important and no one wants to be checking their phone all the time. However, turning on notifications for companies or people that you wish to work with isn’t a bad idea. A friend of mine was in the first five applicants after she was alerted to a photographer position and has been with that company for a solid five years now.
- Tutorials. I say that I’m “self-taught” in many areas, when, in reality, I just know how to ask Google questions. While not a direct offshoot of social media, tutorials on YouTube helped me become more marketable and professional. I Googled how to write a press release two years before anyone asked me to write one.
- Fun. This last aspect has been my favorite. Since the pandemic started, almost a year ago now, I’ve had many a fun moment brought about because of social media. Jackbox game nights, Snapchat filters, and sharing TikToks and gifs back and forth has become connecting in a time of intense separation. Even here, through Medium, I get to know the other interns a little bit better as work from home states, countries, and maybe continents apart.
While the Covid vaccine gives us hope at a return to “normal” networking practices sooner rather than later, virtual networking will likely be a mainstay for the time being. These are some of the positive aspects I’ve gotten from my social networking — hopefully, they can be utilized by others.
