Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t social networking and following blogs like being at a party or conference. When you walk into a place where you know no one, how do you decide who to connect with? Do you choose the person wearing your favourite colour? Do you choose the person who chose not to wear their name tag? Do you stand back and listen in on the conversations going on in the room and then go where it sounds most interesting to you? I think your behaviour in person is mirrored online. You start by choosing something that looks interesting, connecting with those that outwardly seem to fit where you want to be. Then you decide from there what to do next. Do you connect with the people they are connected with or do you find something new that suits you better? Do you give out all your contact information right away or do you guard yourself? Do you stand back and observe a little more? Connecting in both arenas is very similar.
Unless you have no desire to connect at all, even in person, then maybe this isn’t for you. However, I believe we all have a strong innate desire to connect, no matter if we describe ourselves as introverted or extroverted. How you do it is the difference. I think you have to look at your habits in your daily life and try to do what suits you when starting in online communities. Otherwise I think it won’t feel right and it won’t stick. Just like trying to be the life of the party will wear you out if that’s not your most comfortable way of being social.
As I was think about last night’s #etmooc orientation session, I wondered why I didn’t add to the cow page or comment more in the chat section. I think it’s that I’m an observer first and an inputter second. My social MO is to hang back and scope out the scene before jumping into the conversation or activity. And I’m still participating. I’m considering these questions “How are you making learning visible?” and “How are you contributing to the learning of others?” And this is already happening. I just want to consider how that looks next and how I can do it in this arena.
As I think about twitter, here are some posts I found that I liked.