I’ve touched on the subject of networking before but of late I’ve been really thinking about it and trying to find a solution as well. I’m no nearer but I will keep searching.

So let me ask:

Do you network?

Do you pay lip service to networking or do you actually involve yourself and get down and dirty with the process? I’ve got friends who run small businesses and they attend “network meets”. The process usually involves a gathering over food, typically breakfast and coffee with a talk followed by chat and exchange of cards, ideas, numbers or even a trade of services.

To me, this is networking.

• You are building contacts.
• You have an active involvement in the process.
• You give something up for the sake of the process (time / cards / skills).

But I’m continually reading, here,  here and here (as examples of many)  about how we should use twitter to network.

But as I read these comments I find myself agreeing with the authors but equally wondering if they actually believe what they type? They exhort us to ask, help, share, provide, join, etc..

A brief precis would be:

• Ask for help.
• Help others.
• Search Twitter.
• Join chats.
• Share news.
• Share interesting facts.
• Be easy on the quoting.
• But do retweet.
• Share resources.
• Comment on their blog if they have one.
• Compliment.
• Be genuine.

And I don’t disagree with any of the above – but the reality is and taking my numbers I have (as of this post) 520 I follow and 378 who follow me with two lists I host.

Of these, most of the followers are of a like ilk to me – they are technical / gadget lovers in one way or another or they are christian or simply they appear fascinating to me. Anyway, of these people who are happy to tweet at me I get two who comment on my blog posts – even when I’m seeking help.

Why is that?

Or is it, as I suspect, a lot of folks want to talk but don’t want to listen?

I tweeted the other day about setting up a twitter account and populate it with (SEO, shh) keywords to see how long it would take to get followers. I present an example – the other day I tweeted about having had or wanting a coffee and in the next several hours I have no less than 6 new follows, all from coffee houses and all with >10k followers/ followed. At least these guys follow back.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not against the basic ethos of twitter which I see as gathering followers. For without followers your twitter experience will be a very poor one.

But it has to be more than this.

It has to have a meaning beyond advertising you / your brand.

As my last bullet point states, it has to be genuine. But if one asks for help and doesn’t get that help then why bother? So, I’m still seeking an answer to this. I’m still working out what to do about it all.

In closing, let me point you at Aliza Sherman’s 10 Golden Rules of Social Media as perhaps an ideal we could all aim for and ask you this:

What are you doing about making networking a real reality in your social media life?