Online networking, changing from information to targeted interaction

A changing online World
When IT guru Bob Boiko discussed the information age in his book 'Laughing at the CIO', he stated that:

'..information = communication...'

That simple thought might seem appealing, to me it is not very accurate and effective. All in all there are 3 different Dimension in online communication which relate to successful online networking:

First dimension websites; communication as a 'one way lane'
Publishing online information on a website in written words or by adding video and other material upon which you can react has nothing to do with quality communication. It is a 'one way lane' to which another person can react.
However about 99% of the websites you'll come across online are build upon this principle. Typical online behaviour for you to view such websites is by Google-ing a few key-words, selecting your first page choice and quick scanning the chosen website content on the lookout for the information you want. Most of the time that process is grossly inaccurate and not effective. In only about 4-5% of the cases you'll find information upon which you will decide to react by sending an email or phoning a telephone number you found on that website.
This kind of 'communication' is very low- quality oriented, time intensive and it is reactive by nature. It has a time-lag each and every time and is very un-personal. Welcome to todays' internet!

Second dimension websites; enabling direct interaction
'Web 2.0' is a technical term we can hear everywhere around us. It has more marketing purpose than academic value. To my students I always define web 2.0 as:

'the ability of an online service to provide direct human interaction'

That still sounds a bit technical but what it means is a second dimension websites have tools for direct communication, such as Skype integration or instant messaging. In general you will be enabled to use your voice and react directly to the person you are communicating with. Typical networking behaviour is targeted to a selected audience or even to a single person. You can be more 'human' on these websites although you are still missing one vital element in order to be successful in online strategies; 'be selective towards You'.
In general people don't know how and thus these websites are often also time consuming. Your effectiveness rating from second dimension interaction will increase however to about 15-20%.

Third dimension websites; enabling YOU
During my early years as a consultant at Ernst & Young I worked with various communication models which intrigued me because they tried to explain human behaviour and use that knowledge in daily interaction with clients.
A few years ago I tried to project those lessons in an online world but soon found out that online communication and networking has its own rules.
In real life we go to our client's and present our ability and product at his office in a one-to-one or one-to-a-small-group engagement. 'Online' we suddenly have the ability to choose from (currently) 600 million profiles using the OpenNetworkers.info search tools. It gives us solutions to our query which we first have to narrow down. Our choices there are based upon key-words first and most of the time it remains there using clustered key-words as a bases of grouping our query solutions.
Using 'old' networking and communication models isn't possible during this stage of the selection process and not even as a tool for selection after that. Most people and most websites are still 'communication' according to a first dimension process on a first dimension website. The 'old' models are all 2 dimension interaction based and therefore all have a mismatch with online reality and effectiveness.

Therefore, I made my own model: the OpenNetworkers.info Networking model:

The model is the basis on which online behaviour and profiling can be recognized. In other words, if someone is writing something in a 1 dimensional fashion on a website because we are used to doing that, we still are enabled to recognize the writers' networking style by it. Using the model requires some training but if you are used to it it will come to you naturally, increasing your online networking effectiveness.
It will help you revealing which people you will be effective with and which people to pass by to your colleague. It opens up a totally new way of selecting your online partner based on which works for you Being You.

You can also use it as a tool to recognize your own networking style and to become more self-conscious. Sadly, there are a lot of management and marketing trainings around that try to convince us that anyone can influence any other person we meet be it online or offline. That is not how it works and what I always tell my students:'.. Be self-conscious of your networking style and choose your partners which who you want to do business carefully. It will take a little bit more time up front but it will do wonders to your effectiveness in your communication. You will notice that you will be more relaxed in your work and even come to a point of asking the question if you are following the right career-path. You will choose for yourself, enable yourself in a way that is very powerful because it started from self-consciousness..'

Examples, third dimension interaction companies arisingg
It is very interesting to me to see an increase towards more self-consciousness online. People are seeking many ways along that path using all sorts of strongholds to explore it; from individual spirituality to implementing new business models (top down approach to individuality).
An example of the latter is the 'Google model'. Google has introduced a company model in which they offer their employees a lot of space for individual development. It has paid off immensely, Google is seen as one of the great innovators of this time, creativity blossoms in this company because it has got rid of the rigid 20-th century company structures in which we felt that we had to 'control' everything and every process. Google e.g. gives its' employees one day in the week in which they can decide what to do for themselves, be at home, spend it with the family. 'Status' and 'control' has less importance, instead just doing what you 'want to do' not of what your 'should do' has importance, especially to you (and ultimately the company).


The Open Networkers what we do and why
For most people it is hard to comprehend what we are doing with the Open Networkers and why. With this Movement I want to introduce the networking model as a 3 dimensional system and alternative search- and selection tool. Not because of it's technical use, but as a means to bring people closer together. To start a process of self-consciousness where people will start to think about their profile first and their career choices second. Are you following a career or Leading it? Are you reacting to outside expectancies or are you creator of your own environment?
The ON networking model has proven it's effectiveness already and it is leading it's users to more self-conscious profiling and online behaviour one step at the time even if they are not conscious of it yet. It is ironic in a way that the ON has started from a totally 1 dimensional contact forming process which is largely LinkedIn-based.
Seeing the in-effectiveness of LinkedIn and the behavior towards 'status' and profiling towards what we 'should' represent instead of who we 'really are' prompted me to start and build the Open Networkers Movement. It is also ironic that people know and misuse the term 'Open Networkers' as nothing more than a means to create larger, quantity oriented networks.

We go beyond that 'towards personal and professional interaction'. Knowing what really drives us, stimulating that and making the changes on a personal networking style bases to ourselves.

Before you know it you will not only be moving towards matching your ambitions with the right clients or candidates, you will enable Yourself!


Ray van den Bel, March 16th 2008

Recommended literature: Eckhart Tolle; 'The Power of Now'

Review: Tribe.net

The newest addition to the Open Networkers family can be found on Tribe.net:

Here is the direct link: http://tribes.tribe.net/opennetworkers

Tribe.net is one the very best networking portals which has everything you need, including a very good Google-ability for your online Tribe messages and profile.
Recently they have added some interesting features to their portal which include portlets, easy special interest group building and rich content sharing.

You can also add a special interest group, which is exactly what I have done for the Open Networkers, and use a great number of features to add content to that group. The best thing is that the group discussions are xml->RSS enabled, so you can add feeds to e.g. Plaxo, Ning or CollectiveX.

I noticed that the content you add to Tribe (such as your profile or your message) gets indexed and found by Google very decently. Furthermore, the site is very responsive, searches are very quick indeed.

Moving towards a new online world..

Currently I am writing a book about 'online networking'. While writing it (and probably with all the grammar mistakes), I would like to share some parts of it with you, because it is all about You..

(From Chapter 2) Tools & widgets

Earlier, I already mentioned the importance of tools and widgets in the web 2.0 networking arena. All the major players, such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL are moving towards a ‘widget’ oriented internet.
So what are these widgets and why are they so important that all these companies are investing tens of billions of dollars in them?

Imagine an online world that is there for you instantly. You don’t have to startup your computer anymore, instead your phone, your TV, car or other piece of hardware is directly enabling your personal information. Your ‘hardware’ has become smart, it knows exactly who your are, want you want and where you are. It is instantly combining these variables into an outcome that adds value to your personal hobbies or passion.

That probably still is a bit unclear, so let me give you an example:
You are driving down the road, following the instructions of your GPS enabled Google-phone that you have just purchased. All of the sudden the phone’s voice comes to life and tells you that: ‘..after 300 yards you will pass company X on your right. Do you know they have a vacancy there that exactly matches your profile..?’ .

What has happened? Your profile online is known to Google, they know who you are where you are and what you want and added commercial messages to that information. Scary isn’t it? Sounds like George Orwell’ best seller and it probably will be worse. Google is realizing that and has been the first to call out for standards to ensure the safety of our online personal information.
It is not a matter of ‘if’ this scenario will happen, but ‘when’ it will happen. It is a trade-off for being able to call people for free and using the internet for free using the Google-phone. Somewhere they have to make their money and you can be sure they will this way.

So your content is important, it will be reused in a flexible way anywhere in ways you cannot even begin to imagine. If you are a frequent internet user, you have probably noticed the orange little buttons representing ‘RSS-feeds’ on many websites. They are sprouting up anywhere and for good reason.

RSS feeds enable that your texts and other content can be shown on other, decentralized places online. It is just a ‘button’ which you can click but which enables a hyperlink that you can add to any tool that can read the hyperlink. It dynamically pulls new news-items from the website where you have found the RSS feed and adds it to your RSS reader anywhere. And anywhere truly is anywhere, not only on any place, website, blog or profile online, but also on different devices such as the Google-phone I just mentioned.

The best strategy to use these tools is not to follow the Facebook nor the Google OpenSocial example I mentioned. That will result in adding applications to your profile which will enable uncontrollable content to your profile. If that profile is used to act upon by targeted information, it could be a long way off and be very dangerous indeed.

Take e.g. Facebook where widgets could enable a ‘spammer’ to add some semi-pornographic material to your profile. The next time you are driving with your family through town you don’t want to be reminded of certain very personal services in the red light district by your Google-phone, don’t you? Naturally you can remove the widget from your profile but it is much easier for the average internet user to add one than to remove one.
Facebook users like the little widgets and tools and want to keep the tool itself in place but to remove the ‘bad’ content. That means that you’ll have to check your profile all the time, something most of us don’t want to do.

Keeping profiles ‘personal’ and ‘clean’ is essential in order not to create real life problems. Widgets and tools should only be an enabler for decentralizing ‘clean’ content to the internet, not as a publication tool for others on your profile. Only then it can be an enabler instead of a potential danger to your online and offline personality.

Widgets and tools therefore should be for communication, information retrieval and interaction based upon ‘clean’, unchangeable information and profiles. Naturally you should be enabled to choose for yourself ‘what’ and ‘If’ you want to enable your content that way. There should always be a possibility not to use it and that you can just pay for certain services which are otherwise ‘given’ for you for free (free mobile calling and GPS services).
Your widgets will come in all shapes and sizes. The simpler ones will be RSS based, creating decentralized content, maps and profiles. In a second phase more complex widgets will arise combining functionalities such as Matchmaking widgets, Speech & GPS functionalities. These will still just ‘inform’ you. In a third phase the widgets will grow to little virtual robots, also enabling ‘actions’. For example: your Google –phone will make a direct appointment for you related to the feedback you gave about the Job-opportunity you just passed on the road…

Symbioses of online and offline Worlds

Online and offline worlds and experiences will therefore merge together. Tools that will enable that in the most human, natural way will become the best-practices in this emerging networked society.
When I talk about this people always ask me what I think about Second Life. Second Life is a virtual world in which people can create their own reality and take part in that.
People who have used Second Life often regard it as being a ‘game’ because it is unreal, a fantasy.

In order to be successful as a networking portal, people need a reflection towards the real world around them. On Second Life you can see that as well. The ‘Islands’ on Second Life where there is a reflection to real life are the most popular (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin).
Second Life came 5 years too early, it eats server capacity by the tons and you’ll have to have very up to date hardware (no more than 3 years old) in your computer to have a chance to use it successfully.

Other Second Life-like worlds are being worked on, like Google-life. Google-life will be the successor to Google Earth. Just imagine a Google Earth where you can zoom in on a geographical location as normal, but instead that you are able to participate with your avatar (your virtual ‘puppet’ representing you) in a close copy of the real world. It will enable you to check out your hotel room online effectively because it is a one-on-one copy of the real hotel room you will be staying in during your holidays. It will be just as second Life is today, but more ‘real’.
The more real it is, the more genuine can be (and will be) your online personality. On Second Life everyone is beautiful, young and a superman / woman. On Google-life you will just be you, and that is what we prefer (!). It will be more effective as well. If we add ‘clean’ profiles to our virtualization, it will enable real business instead of virtual dollars.

All about You

The new online world is all about who we really are. Not about who we think we are or what we represent, but about Us. If you are assessing how online networkers behave online you can already see that happening. There is a vast interest in networked websites which enable us to add rich content to our profile such as Facebook and Myspace. Without realizing it, we are all in the process of rediscovering ourselves because online, we can.

In Real Life you just have to take what you get in meeting someone. There is no or limited choice because we are physically limited to a geographical location. Online there are no such limits. We can choose from an internet population of hundreds of millions of people. The moment you realize that, you will be more conscious in you profiling behavior. You will use it as it was intended: to show something of yourself and if the other person likes that, he’ll interact with you.

We all still have to get used to that. For now we are still behaving towards a believe that our quantity in our online network gives us ‘status’. We are feeding our Ego in a way that is normal to Real Life where our looks and appearances seem to tell most people something about our success as a human being. Most people measure each other and themselves that way using all the status symbols to underline that. It was the way our society worked, and it worked quite well with that for centuries. We are all conditioned more or less towards behaving in a materialistic environment where the environmental perception rules over the individual being. A few years ago I came in contact with Eckhart Tolle’s work, The Power of Now, which opened up my eyes. Tolle’s work is full of spiritual interpretations and relations which can be a bit annoying for someone like me who tends to think and act rationally. Yet being ‘Now’ is a tool to explore what you really want in life, who you really are. You will notice the difference once you realize that and once you do you will truly become self-consciousness, explore your passion and life towards it.

Being online is also about You, being truly self-consciousness. Only then you will be able to truly make a good representation online of yourself. Ask yourself if you have a profile online: Is this really me? Or is this just a mere summarization of what I have done in the past. Am I (e.g.) really a sales-man or was that just a ‘label’ which was created for me in order that people understood what my working status was?

Online there are a great many active networkers who are in the transition from ‘status’ to ‘self-consciousness’. That isn’t an easy way, because we have been so comfortable in the doing things the way we were used to. Our status and materializations gave us a sense of being there, being important. What are you if you are just You?

Well ‘You’ are what matters, you are everything and now you have the chance to explore that, Be yourself online and ultimately offline. You will notice that if you dare to make the choices towards who you really are that and claim that space in real life, things will start working for you. In 2 years time I changed my life from being just another specialist towards starting my own vision in online networking and communication. It led me to a quantity network first and from there on to a quality network which I started myself (The Open Networkers) and which now has over 25.000 followers worldwide. For the first time I am experiencing what some call 'The Flow' which is so energetic that i am convinced that there must be a greater structure of 'Life' behind it.

Life gave me new jobs and projects in which I could exactly (!) do where my passion drove me, building the Open Networkers and it's vision of quality Open Networking. People started listening, noticing, asking me but more important I became Me in the process...

The current changes online are far more important than just a change in technology. It is a true revolution of an unprecedented scale. It will transform the World and it is happening today. You are all part of it, you will all start to think about your Profile. There is no escaping it, you’ll have to if you want it to happen or not. Just let it happen and be open-minded towards it and you will notice that it will be an enabler, but off and online..

LinkedIn Addiction, more dangerous than you think

Functionalities of NETWORKING PORTALS CHANGE FREQUENTLY, therefor in order to has some insight of the latest development, please visit the OpenNetworkers.info forum about this Portal.

LinkedIn is one of the most popular networking portals with over 15 million profiles. Once you start using it, you'll find it hard to resist for a number of reasons. It has some very good tools such as the search tool which you use to search for other networkers. It is 'top of the line'.

However, LinkedIn will only let you search the amount of profiles which are related to your network. You'll either have to know them directly, indirectly (friend of a friend) or in the third line (his friends). So a 'bigger' network leads to more visible (and thus available) profiles (quantity).

Furthermore, it works the other way around as well. You'll be more visible the moment you have a bigger network.

That principle in itself would have been enough to stimulate a quantity oriented growth on LinkedIn, but they went further by 'ranking' the LinkedIn networkers to the numbers of contacts in various ways. Amongst others, LinkedIn ranks;
- the amount of contacts you have;
- the amount of questions and answers you give in the Q & A section;
- the amount of recommendations you have;
- the amount of key-words you are using in your profile.

If your ranking is 'higher' you'll be more visible throughout your network, so being quantity driven became a real necessity in being (regarded) successful on LinkedIn. The more quantity, the higher your 'Status'. It's business model thus appeals directly to our status, on how 'good' we appear to be to the others.

Before we knew what was happening, everyone was trying to connect with everyone and people got addicted to the quantity system. I do not use the word 'addiction' lightly, it is a real problem. People where getting addicted and spend more and more time online in finding ways to add more quantity and thus status to their profile. They send out emails by the bulk and when they became restricted on LI, people where quick to use other means (e.g.: their private email client and using other quantity oriented groups like Plaxo Pulse Beta or Yahoo Groups) to add attention towards their LinkedIn profile and personal page.. Begging to get connected, adding to the quantities. The LinkedIn behaviour influenced behaviour on other networks as well even if they aren't quantity oriented.

There are quite a number of really addicted networkers now who are just adding quantity to their profile on LinkedIn. They are working on their LinkedIn quantities all day, neglecting their family, just hoping their LI-network will make a difference in their job. They totally forget they are just feeding their ego...

Contra-movement
I chose to leave the path of quantity once I noticed that LinkedIn isn't enabling quality networks at all. It doesn't bring you anything, no real business even if you have 14.000 direct contacts like I have (screen shot above). It's just a phone book with no value. Even worse, you can call people in a phone-book, on LinkedIn you can just send emails which will be regarded as another spamming-mail by most people. There have even been court battles over the ownership of LI 'contacts' believing they represent any value forgetting that anyone can acquire this phone book. It is the quality of the networking action (like being able to phone the other person, which you can't do on LinkedIn), that counts, not the mere 'contact'.

However I used it to study online networking behavior and to find out 'what does work online'.
I found out that the more you are able to Profile yourself in a quality way and you are enabled by the network to interact from that profile, the better your chances to reach your intended networking goals. People who understood that and who were doing that in general weren't 'status' or 'ego' driven, instead they tended to be passionate about what they are doing, believing in their individual mission in life, not the status that depends on it.
They tended to be more or less spiritual inspired. Just Being yourself and being able to profile that online in a quality way by adding quality content and tools such as photo, video and instant messaging proved far more effective. These individuals where able to attract online networkers who share a common passion which is individually related, not measured by external factors. They became 'effective' online, also in doing business.

The Open Networkers is a Movement that helps people in the transition from quantity to quality oriented networking. To leave the status behind, to really start thinking about You, your passion in life and how to profile that effectively in order to attract matching people to your cause.
It lead to more self-awareness and a new sense of Leadership which is following passion and the flow of the moment instead of being dependent on the outside world and it's superficial 'rewards'.

Do join us and help people on their way from quantity to quality, for the sake of everyone's personal development, we are far better than being just a 'number', we can Be and be Ourselves online..

How 'Open' is Google's OpenSocial?

Google surprised us by offering developers a platform for development of widgets and gadgets which can be used on multiple plaftorms such as Myspace, Ning, LinkedIn, etc etc. In fact we should be able to use them almost anywhere except for Facebook.

That is a welcome move, no doubt about it and because it will use a very user friendly way to add them to your profile anywhere (just push the button) in will enable users the same way as Facebook does in it's single, closed environment.

But after having done some tests on Ning with the first OpenSocial widgets, I must warn you as well:
1) They don't work properly (yet), and they are a bugger to remove from your Ning profile
2) They are not very 'Open'. You cannot 'see' or change the code of the widget. That also means that you cannot copy and paste it to the place you want, e.g. your blog or your own website..

That will also mean that you can also only use it in a mobile environment that will allow the widgets...The Google Android / phone environment.

The Open Networkers are very willing to help a decentralized strategy that will enable and help anyone, but we are not helping any party in their monopoly-strategy and it seems that it is just that what Google has in mind..

So beware..we'll just keep our html and Java based widgets which work properly and can be published anywhere freely.