Social Networking: Necessary or Narcissistic?

The social networking frenzy that inevitably flows from the smorgasbord of social media sites out there (the part that's not accidental, anyway) may be the result of the "it's not what you know, but who you know" mindset - especially in the current economic market.  Social networking has always been an activity of us social beings, whether we were aware of it or not; putting it online and putting intentionality behind it is an innovative move for social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.  There is, however, like with everything else, a downside.  The power of social networking (just like the power of social media) can be used for good, as with the case of people getting jobs because of who they know in a company, but it can also be a bit too self-focused, create new opportunities for dangerous activities like stalking, and, as we all know, provide myriad distractions from what could be good work.

All these options for personal online profile growth can start to create the impression that everything is, actually, all about you.  The power of "word of mouth" to get people involved in much-needed social change movements is lost in the seemingly limitless possibilities of virtual-world self-creation.  Yes, it is a good job seeker's skill to be able to market one's self, but there is also a fine line between presenting one's skills and interests to a potential employer, and the single-minded focus on self-promotion to which the current online world seems all-too conducive.  Also, once your information is online, it is, in a way, public property (a friend of mine who tried to delete her FB profile said she could only "deactivate" it, all her information remains online and "property of FB").  This, of course, can be fun when it finds you long-lost friends that moved away when you were in third grade, but it can also invite people you may not want to find you to find you.  And, finally, the social media world encourages distraction, and the social networking world has the potential to create even more forms of social anxiety, inferior complexes and more cases of "left-out" syndrome.  At least, that's how social networking via the current social media sites available currently seem.

At least there are still some people who haven't been sucked in to the social media, social networking world enough to be refreshingly honest about it.  After all, it seems like it's a far and wide search for an original Twitter post (that hasn't been tweeted a hundred times over), a Facebook profile that isn't totally focused on the creator, or a social media site that explicitly promotes other-focused social change efforts.  What would be truly innovative in the social networking and social media worlds would be to actually harness the power of social connection (which naturally creates and flows from social networking) for social good, and not just personal gain.

Photo credit: Despair, Inc.