Task 3a: Current Network

My current networking tools are:

• Email-accounts 
• Mobilephone/Phone
• Skype
• Facebook
• Face-2-Face

My main tools to correspond and stay in touch with people are by email and mobile phone. When I am at home I am using my private email-accounts. At the moment I have more than one, for different purposes. Because when I am expecting advertises I use another one than to communicate with my friends. And I have a third one for business emails. In the office where I am working in, there is a independent email-system. This system is very comfortable and easy to use. So, when I am at work I am using this system for checking and answering emails. That is my note for contacts at work. Other tools which I am using private are of course Facebook and sometimes Skype. During the last month I get the impression that my private and my professional life are very merged with one another. On Facebook there are also colleagues as well as friends. I do not really want to share the same with everybody. Private should be private and work should be work. But on Facebook this distinction are very difficult. Of course we can choose who can see our posts or pictures, but that is all. But when I begin to select all what I want to show to people and to select which I allowed to see it, where are than the sense of Facebook anymore? in my point of view it is not possible to refuse an invitation of your chief or an colleague, because that is not polite. I have found a similar statement on Leanne Watson´s Blog:  "Like most people I have found the problem of mixing my social and professional lives on  facebook, I recently had a new employer add me on facebook and this gave me the problem of not wanting to refuse her but also not wanting her to see my social life."


But, what do you think about this topic?

So, I would really prefer a social platform where it would be possible to separate work contacts from friends. Actually, we have only the choice to be a member of Facebook and Xing. But that doesn´t solve the problem of the colleagues and chiefs as "Friends" on Facebook. So, do you have any solutions? E.g. two Facebook Account? I would really like to know who do handle this? 

As mentioned my ideal "technical network" would have the opportunity to separation private and professional contacts. Additional to this it should have a tool to administrate contacts, emails, contactinformations, meetings, events, pictures, videos and Links. So, if you would take all useful tools of Google, Facebook and Xing and bring them together to one main platform, that would be ideal for me. Google has many opportunities, much more than any email-account. The tools to administrate emails and informations making the platform well structured and the contacts easy to handle. I do only miss that there are not many friend of mine. But it is also possible to invite other people. I really want to reduce the many contactplatforms (Facebook, Xing and different Emailaccounts) to a few. I do not like to waste time to check different websites everyday.


How much time do you spend to check all you emails everyday?

I have thought about social networking already before I have even began with the BAPP. I have noticed that many decision maker and successful people do have a strong and dense networks. I do see them calling with their mobile phones, sending and checking emails the whole day, meeting with people or making appointments. I am wondering how that is working. It can only work because of systems which remember them of important events and dates. I think with the new technologies this became easier and faster. 

But I am also interested in the verbal communication methods which they using. I would really like to know more about this item.


Does anybody know literature about the communications in networks or how we have to communicate to develop a professional network?

After reading a lot about the issue social networking on the Reader, on the internet and on the blogs here I will try to get new contacts and will nurturing my already existing contacts in the reallife. Like Stephanie Thomas mentioned on her blog: "I want to be more aware of taking every opportunity to engage in conversations, take up as many offers as possible to see work, and nurture my existing network by being active in keeping in touch."

Please feel free to comment.