You Gotta Have Friends

Teeg wrote a great article today!

In the article, You Gotta Have Friends she tackles the question of whether online friends are “real” friends!

My opinion is that yes, they are.

I will qualify that by saying that there a lot of acquaintances as well, just like there are off line.

We all have friends who we regard as closer than others.

This is not necessarily because we favor one over the other, but is more likely because there are more common shared interests.

As far as Facebook, Plurk, Myspace, and other social networking sites are concerned, I tend to regard people that I meet as real friends.

A lot of times I have felt that I have been added to their customer, or prospective customer lists, to be sent advertising messages via the inbox, or wall.

When this happens consistently, they change from friend to acquaintance, to “non friend” very quickly…

Social networking is not necessarily social advertising, and most social media sites have very strict guide lines on this.

While most friends will take an interest in what you do anyway, constantly advertising is not on!

Taking advantage of other peoples’ goodwill just to make a sale can cost you your membership, and that is a high price to pay.

The important thing about networking is that you don’t promote a product, you promote yourself. Your products will then sell anyway, if they’re good enough!

Why not connect on Facebook?

Simply click on my profile picture to add me as a friend.

Of course, one site that is going gangbusters at present is Plurk, a site that has taken the message formula pioneered by Twitter, and improved it beyond recognition.

Find more about Plurk!