People often complain that social media diminishes human contact and will, one day, turn us all into recluses, trapped in front of a computer screen. I have never bought into this depressing, slightly Orwellian view as it seems most frequently to come from people who do not use social media or, if they do, do not fully understand its potential.
The truth is quite the opposite.
Right from the infancy of social networking I have found it to be a great tool for fostering face-to-face interaction beyond the limiting medium of the computer screen. I have rekindled old friendships, found useful business contacts and gained introductions to local and national networks that I would probably never have discovered otherwise.
I come from a generation that was raised in a world where online networks were little more than a science fiction pipe dream. It was all too easy to lose contact with people as you moved from school, to university and into the world of work, something today’s young people often find difficult to understand. Through Friends Reunited initially and now with Facebook, I have found people I regretted losing touch with and thought I might never find. Many of these online reconnections have produced some memorable meetings over the last few years, usually involving not a little alcohol and plenty of reminiscing.
In my business life, Twitter and LinkedIn have produced a wealth of virtual connections that go far beyond the old, ‘real’ networks that I was in. On many occasions I have found myself sharing a cup of coffee with one of these new virtual connections as we realised our common interests went well beyond what 140 characters can embrace.
People are social beings and online networking can only satisfy so much of that need. Don’t let anyone tell you that the big social networkers are some sort of nerd, a breed apart that doesn’t value human contact because that simply isn’t true.
I’ll give you one more example that illustrates my point.
In Brentwood, where I live, there is a very active Twitter community. Local politicians, small businesses, the local media and arts groups in particular have realised the value of Twitter in helping connect with people in a small town like Brentwood. Out of this virtual network has grown a face-to-face monthly Brentwood Tweet-Up at which a healthy cross-section of the Brentwood Twitterati meet for a drink and a chat. This social gathering has blossomed so much that there is now an annual Brentwood Twitter awards night. Brentwood isn’t alone in finding that virtual networks can grow into something much more tangible and mutually beneficial.
If you are from Brentwood and want to see what a virtual network looks like in the flesh why not pop in to one of the monthly Brentwood Tweet-ups at the Hutton Junction from 7pm to 9pm? There won’t be a nerd in sight.
What do you do when you are made redundant after 35 years continuous permanent full-time employment?
That is the question I have been facing up to since learning just over a month ago that Incisive Media no longer required my services as Group Editorial Services Director as it pursues a programme of decentralisation, sweeping away several group-wide roles. Understanding the painful logic of the position Incisive finds itself in is one thing but realising that it directly and abruptly affects you is quite another.
So, what do you do? Sulk? Get angry? Feel sorry for yourself? Look for people to blame?
Most of those things are far too negative and look like a waste of energy to me. I am pretty sure I know who and what to blame but that is a story for another day.
My response to this unexpected and daunting challenge? Take a deep breath, consider carefully what I am good at and will make me get out of bed every day and then ask myself the difficult question: will people want what I have got to offer?
With the encouragement of Incisive Media quickly offering me the opportunity to return from next week as an independent trainer and several offers from various publications to write for them I decided that it was definitely worth making a serious attempt to set myself up as a freelance journalist, trainer, presenter and consultant. From Monday that is what I will launch myself as through the company I have set up – Worsfold Media Services.
Creating a website for the company has been a great first step, partially because it was something constructive and forward-looking to do from day one but mainly because it has made me refine my thoughts on what I can do for people and companies. On more than one occasion I wrote a page for the website one day and re-visited it the next day only to think no-one, just no-one would want to buy that lot.
Fortunately, a lot of people have been very encouraging and supportive and I already have a long list of people to see and pitch ideas to over the next month or so. The blank pages in the diary after October look abit scary at the moment but people tell me not to worry too much about those. I hope they are right
On Monday, I will ‘launch’ Worsfold Media Services via social media (how else) and an associated email campaign so watch this space.
As for this new blog, I will use it to cover a wide variety of topics, including some of the political issues affecting the financial services sector that I used to cover in my Parliamentary Connections blog. I look forward to engaging with many of you on this blog and on your own.
Redundancy may have been an unwanted challenge but, so far, it doesn’t feel unwelcome: quite the contrary. Here’s to the future.
David Worsfold 