A lot is being being made of the encroaching social network fatigue. Just about everyone in the tech blogging world is starting to feel the effects of it and the people in the real world probably couldn’t give a damn about it; unless it has to do with porn or downloading music and videos of course.

It doesn’t matter if you are talking about walled up Facebook wannabe’s or this new idea; gawd help us, of portable social networks the fact is that even hearing the word social is causing some folks to run screaming for the hills. Everything on the web seems to think that it just has to include some sort of social crap in order to survive.

While Chris Messina may think that the fatigue effect hasn’t spread beyond the social geeks I would suggest that the word social is very quickly becoming one of the most used and misused words on the internet to the point people are starting to gag when they read or hear it. After all it is nothing more than a term of convenience because anyone who thinks that the act of sitting behind a keyboard and monitor to communicate with other people is being social needs a head check.

Going to conferences maybe social (would going to unconferences make you unsocial? ), sharing latte’s with like minded people at Starbucks might be social but having to checkmark some-one as a friend is not being social. The idea that the web is nothing more than a bunch of intersecting 24 hour cocktail parties where everyone cheek kisses and mouths platitudes isn’t adding any real value to useful conversations.

The other day Rick Mahn had a post about whether or not your blog is your social network:

On your blog, and through your interests and reading habits, you will find other bloggers in the same genre and begin to share links and comments with.  This is one of the best ways to grow your network.  No, it’s not like getting 250 ‘friends’ on Facebook in a weekend, but that’s because it’s more valuable.  Having two or three blogging friends is more valuable and powerful than large numbers elsewhere.  Your interaction in the blogosphere with others is what builds that value.  It’s more than any number can represent because it’s real exchange of ideas, real interaction.  And that my friend is social networking.

In my comment to his post I said:

I can be contacted more ways now than I ever could be before - either through my blog, or through IM, or over Skype, or through the WinExtra forums and finally though our IRC channels. So until anyone in the social networking world can show me - without the typical marketspeak - how this new and so-called better social network is a better and easier way to maintain contact with me the whole idea is nothing but hype.

The thing about networks is the value they are suppose to bring to the table. Whether the value be improving on what you already know or expanding into areas you are interested in. Check marking 250 or a 1,000 people in Facebook isn’t going to do that because of one simple fact - human nature and human ability to absorb information.

There isn’t enough time in the day for any person to find value in what a 1,000 people have to say - our internal filters just won’t allow it. At some point all that information; whether it be valuable or just fluff, becomes nothing more than white noise.

On the flip side when a person contacts me by any of the methods I gave in my comment to Rick they will have my undivided attention as there is an inherent implication of value from a one to one communication - whether it be just to chat for a moment or to expand on something being talked about.

In effect with those current ways of contacting me I have created my own truly portable social network. It is a network that brings me value with every contact made because the person reaching out; whether it’s by by making a comment, by IM’ing me or even by creating their own post on something I have written, is adding value to my network and also expanding it at a rate I as a human being can either absorb or reject.

Adding value to one’s personal pool of knowledge or giving to another’s doesn’t depend on vast numbers of useless contacts. Value comes from one to one communication and then following whatever paths that come from that conversation.

Listening to: Diane Arkenstone - The Best of - Canyon Dreams

Conversation Tags: social networks, blogs