Day 39. Staying Connected

Everyone’s buzzing about social media. Mostly about Facebook, and its monetary value. I don’t know about that. What I do know, is what it’s worth to me.

To be honest, I don’t know how effective advertising on social media is, or isn’t. I don’t know if it builds brands as effectively as television advertising does. Or anything else, for that matter. Personally, I don’t think so; but truthfully, I haven’t a clue. I don’t know if ‘liking’ a fan page equates to either sales or brand loyalty. My guess is, no, it does not, at least not in most cases. But in all honesty, I have no idea.

Does having thousands and thousands of Twitter followers mean the network won’t cancel your show? Doubt it. But, really, how would I know? Will any of my blogs ever attract enough advertising to earn me a living? Probably not, but some do; and I suppose it could happen.

Will shares in Facebook ever be a good investment? I haven’t the foggiest. Ask Warren Buffett what he thinks. But here’s what I do know:

I love that, through Facebook, I reconnected with a woman I worked with, in my very first job. She was a seasoned pro back then, and she kindly, and generously, took me under her wing and showed me the ropes. When I left after a year she was still there. We met

again about four or five years later, when we ended up working for another agency, and sharing an office. And then I lost track of her. Until recently, when she found me on Facebook.

We didn’t have a falling out. There just came a time when our lives took us in totally different directions. And we lost touch. It was great to hear from her, after all these years; and great to hear about her son (who she was pregnant with, when I knew her). And it was wonderful to find out that she’s happy, in good health; and to see what she’s been up to all this time. She’d never have found me without social media.

I love it that yesterday, I got a Facebook message from a gal I knew a million years ago in Montreal. We weren’t best friends, but we had a very good friend in common. Our mothers knew each other. And we did hang out occasionally. She left Montreal long, long before I did. And now, after many years on the West Coast of the US, she’s in the UK. Has been for quite a while. The chances of our reconnecting without Facebook would be slim and nil. We’ll probably never see each other again (although who knows), but it doesn’t matter. Her message conjured pleasant memories I’d long forgotten.

I love that a former colleague of mine from my Ogilvy days saw one of my blog posts on LinkedIn and sent me a message. She’s in New York and I’m here, in Toronto, but we worked together, as a team, on IBM. We decided that we had too much to catch up on for email and we had a one-hour phone conversation instead. It was great to hear her voice and, within minutes, we were brainstorming. Just like we always had, only this time it was about a business idea for her. Some things never change.

I love to see the photos my friends, family and even colleagues post — of their kids, their grandkids, themselves, and even their pets. It keeps them ‘present’ in my life. I love it that my friends and colleagues and peers do my research for me, and post links to articles and recommend books they like, and think others will like as well.

I love that through blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter I’m meeting all kinds of interesting and knowledgeable people from all over the world. I love that I’m forming untraditional friendships, and by that I mean, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll ever meet each other in person, but we will ‘meet’ online and have great conversations, from time to time.

I love how easy it is to keep in touch this way. Not that I’m saying that social media will ever replace an in-person visit. At least not in my life. But this lets me stay close on a daily basis, from anywhere in the world I may be. And from anywhere in the world they may be.

To me that’s priceless. Does everything have to be about money, all the time?