It started with a message from my old Youth Group Director to my brother. “Hey, I’ll be in your area soon. How about dinner?” My brother said “Sure!”
Then Facebook happened. The word spread like wildfire. The director was well known, and in very short order a collection of 30-40 people were possible attendees at what shaped up to be an impromptu reunion of sorts. The result was that 22 old and dear friends gathered for the first time in (a well overdue) 30 years and a good time was had by all.
Much of the credit goes to my brother and the director for seizing the opportunity. But this could not have happened without everyone’s participation on Facebook. Our initial “investment” in the time to reach out to old friends opened a window of opportunity. That window would not have been there and the reunion would not have occurred if we were not already in touch with each other. Do you business folks see a parallel here?
Status? Social Net Working.
If you are into Social Networking, you know that you have to give in order to receive. If you put up a Facebook page and never reach out with it, plan on being a Wall Flower; no one will pay attention to you. On the other hand, if you are in the habit of regularly sharing a new post, status, story, etc., you are more likely to be closer to the center of action and people are more likely to interact with you. Sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn (and perhaps hundreds of others) are Social networks folks, and to make them work for you, you need to socialize.
Businesses in particular are rapidly taking advantage of Social Networks to keep their face in front of what they consider to be a pool of potential customers. From their standpoint, the more the merrier, and it makes a good case for signing up for as many Social Networks as possible. The downside is that the more Social Networks you sign up for, the more you need to tend to.
One of the most common ways to participate in Social Networks (and to keep yourself in front of people) is to update your Status regularly. A Status is generally a one-line description which answers the simple question “what’s up?” A status might be “Writing my next Blog entry”, “Looking forward to the weekend”, or “Mention my status and get 20% off a website ranking analysis” (What’s up with that? I already offer that to selected businesses for free!).
Update many, update often
That’s all well and good, but there are tens (perhaps hundreds) of Social Networking sites out there. How do you keep up your appearance on ALL of them? There must be a better way. And there is.
PING.FM is a super-site of sorts. You sign up once and teach it about any of the thirty or more sites it knows about. You update your status once with PING.FM, and it in turn updates all your favorite SN sites. They accept updates via their web interface, SMS (mobile phone/text), Instant Message and a host of other plugins and apps.
If you’re on a lot of Social sites and update often, PING.FM can be a real time saver.
Social Network sites supported by PING.FM
From the latest and fastest computers, to the newest cellular gizmos, the American public likes its technology. There’s always some new “must have” gadget to replace your old one. And for those who need to keep pace with technology I say “Go for it, and have fun”.
E-waste Pile
But what becomes of your old equipment? Unfortunately, much of our very old or beyond repair electronics find their way to the dump. It’s sad to say, but many people simply throw away old computers, cellphones, PDAs, etc. But that’s not very eco-friendly and we really should consider recycling. The problem with recycling is that it’s such an inconvenience.
To help you maintain your eco-conscious, Wired recently released a great list of hardware manufacturers that offer recycling programs. And retailers like Best Buy, Staples, and Radio Shack offer you a way to relieve yourself of your old “junk” and keep it out of the dumps. If you must trash your old equipment, I highly recommend looking into one of these programs.
If your equipment is newer and still functional, you might consider online sales forums, like Craigs List or eBay. These forums are a great way for sellers to get rid of old equipment and also get $omething back. It also lets buyers benefit by buying perfectly good (though older) technology at a discount.
One of my favorite ways to get rid of old equipment is via Trickle Down. The Trickle Down Theory is analogous to clothing hand-me-downs, where perfectly good (but perhaps ill-fitting) clothing is given to a friend, relative, Goodwill, etc. Trickling down used equipment makes a lot of sense. If you need to upgrade your computer, perhaps a friend, relative, church or school would make good use of it. Also, if you know ahead of time that you will be trickling down a computer, you may be more likely to replace it faster, giving you the excuse to stay up-to-date and giving the beneficiary a newer computer. Trickling down makes everyone feel good and extends the useful life of your original purchase. Just make sure to clean up your sensitive data, before you trickle down something you did not intend.
Whatever you do with your old equipment, try to keep it going for as long as you can. Just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s useless. And when it does finally reach its end-of-life, make the extra effort to make sure it does not become part of the 21st century’s e-waste stream.
