Social Networking is Valuable, On and Offline

Today, the company that makes Facebook, the online social networking environment, reported it is edging closer to profitability. While this is certainly good news for our otherwise struggling economy (and employability being very much needed in the computer business, and everywhere else for that matter), this is also further confirmation that social networking is the “next level” of intra-communication in our society.

But least we get too carried away, there is also the very real and basic fact that social networking has been around long before the makers of Facebook were even born. And social networking today occurs just as much off-line as online. Specifically I am referring to that magical thing that happens at the end of most church (and other types of places of worship) services once the formal service ends. Almost immediately the previously controlled crowd breaks in to a multitude of subcultures, all containing individuals who are laughing, smiling, and shaking hands, discussing business opportunities, politics, sharing information for education purposes, and a number of other related issues and topics. Spiritual leaders know that no matter how effective the sermon for that day might have been, nothing can take the place of taking time afterward to shake a few hands and listen to someone’s comments, or share further insight with a small group or with individuals about the message that was delivered.

And this has been the case for as long as people have been coming together for common purposes—whether for religious reasons or just for collective interest in social or community conditions. Social networking is first and foremost about people connecting with people—period. Those who understand this intrinsic truth can make a ton of things happen for themselves in a good way.