Connections, a LinkedIn world

Connections, connections, connections, we all strive to have them, maintain them, manage them and cultivate them.

But as our world gets smaller and smaller, or better said, flatter and flatter, maintaining connections over time and space becomes that much more challenging.

That is where tools like LinkedIn and Facebook come in.

These tools serve a valuable purpose in allowing individuals to reach out and touch base with past and present colleagues, friends, associates, etc.

A key value I see in these tools is that it provides a window into an individuals professional life. Many a time I have gone into LinkedIn (my professional social collaboration tool of choice) to catch up with an old colleague, only to find out by reviewing their profile, they have moved on to a new organization. Their information has been updated and their email has changed. From my perspective, this is great. I now know where they are and what they are doing. Problem solved.

The flip side of the coin is that if users do not activity monitor and manage their profiles, after making a move, you will probably lose contact with that individual over time. Several times I have gone into LinkedIn, knowing that someone had made a change in organizations, only to find that they still have their old position and company listed under current. Lost contact.

Other benefits I see are the Q/A components built into these tools. Again, I am specifically talking about LinkedIn as this is where I have decided to create my "collaborative" world . This feature allows users to post a question to their "connections" and have them respond in kind. I have used this on several occasions and have found the responses both helpful and informative.

Lastly, and more exciting is the new component build within the tool which provides users with news content their colleagues are reading on a particular subject within their organization. I found this new feature one day when I logged onto the site and found a small section at the top of the page with news feeds on my agency. This was fantastic! It provided me with a local newsstand of information on energy related content, all pushed out to one location.

As these tools become more and more prolific in our society, additional features and functionality will only be a matter of time. At present, they personally provide me with a way to stay in touch, be informed and collaborate all within one central location. The world is truly flat and it is only going to get flatter.