I’m going to start this post by declaring my distaste for personal networking web sites. I used Friendster for a little while and the idea of having a numerical value assigned to the number of friends that I have was kind of amusing and at the same time a little scary. I realize that life is not a popularity contest (except for when it is) and I like to feel like I’ve grown past the need for external validation (well, at least, as grown past it as the average adult with a good level of self esteem), but I’ve never been much for online communities so I tended to log in and see myself with only a handful of connections. Personally, I’m waiting for the eHarmony of business networking sites to come about (it worked for dating so why not apply its principles everywhere). It would set you up on business lunches and conference calls with random people chosen by your field and personality profile. That way, no one person would get a disproportionate amount of business contacts due to the load balancing of the system. Just think of the possibilities if you had sites to load balance everything based on surveys and stable marriage algorithms: dinner reservations, plane tickets, parking spots, etc.
Anyway, if you know me and have a LinkedIn account, link up and be part of the zibnet.
Scott Johnston | 14-Feb-06 at 8:41 pm | Permalink
I also have grown weary of networking sites. That being said, I am finding LinkedIn to be a good way to keep up with people as they move from job to job. It seems to require the right amount of info (not too much, not too little). I also find it a good way to find out more about interview candidates than google alone. :)