DISQUS

Glad you had fun! Worry about winning next year. This year is all about just doing it, and doing it a little better each time.

The temp up here won't get above 50 tomorrow, so races seem to have dried up in NE. Still, I might hit the road today. Wishing I had weather like you. :)

I wish I had one. At this point, I'm following most everybody. It would be different if I could 'group' followers, but right now I'm just kind of open. I recognize avatars, and there are some that I make sure to read when they pop up. Others, I skim thru.

Very seldom to I unfollow someone at this point. Generous use of foul language or being a jerk in general is a great way to get me to unfollow you.

Spam tweeters are never followed, or quickly unfollowed if I thought you were a real person by accident.

So, Chris, my question to you is this...

How do you personally FIND who you want to follow at any given moment? Do you search tweets using Terraminds or some such application? Or do you use someone's bio? Or just your own personal knowledge of a follower?

Its like going to the library and searching for information, but only being able to look at whatever the librarian shoves in your face.

Absolutely diabolical.

Imagine trying to get to your favorite store, but the competition has enough money and repaved all the roads to lead to just their own store.

Well, I use social networks, and while I have a few people in there that I don't know well, and even fewer that I don't know at all, for the most part, I've met with or have 'followed' most everyone in the network. Since social networking is about building networks, not necessarily friendships, sometimes its not necessary to befriend everyone in your network.

Del.icio.us is a great example of this. Its network is set up to provide link tagging. If I find someone in my network that has similar interests to me, then chances are, I'm going to find his bookmarked links, at least in whatever area we have in common, interesting.

It is also a great platform for creating results in certain circumstances. For instance, the vast networks of Firefly fans have for several years now, made screenings of the movie Serenity for charity a great success.

Or, if I run into a problem or have a question about podcasting, then I can throw that out to my network of podcasting 'buddies', many of whom I've only met in person once, and some not at all, and I know that I'll get some kind of response, and almost certainly a solution or answer.

So, if Social Networking is a popularity contest for some, so be it. However, those who have really looked at the great potential of these tools have learned to leverage them in ways to accomplish things, both great and small.

Now, if only I could find a way to start 'tagging' my buddies so that I could group them appropriately. :D