Fake Relationships: You're Doing It Wrong

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There are some links to great video interviews with Seth Godin on his recent blog entry, Nobody Cares About You that you should watch. But my favorite is about putting relationships in perspective in social media.

Best quote that seems obvious but worth repeating: "Networking is always important when it's real, and it's always a useless distraction when its fake." Social media is a great enabler of relationships, both fake and genuine. As Seth notes, fake relationships are just a way to keep score, like hit count: they don't mean anything in a business context. Real relationships are reciprocal; you would go out of your way for that person, and they would go out of their way for you. But to earn that you have to first build trust through genuine, honest interactions.

Social media is a powerful tool to help you nuture and grow your relationships online, but you have to understand what kind of relationships you are making. If your entire strategy is just clicking 'follow' on Twitter or becoming 'friends' on Facebook, you're doing it wrong.

Photo & caption by Jeffy & Noelle, found at icanhazcheezburger.com

Update: edited to add label.

Message Edited by ScottD on 10-27-2008 11:51 AM