Want to Connect on LinkedIn? Tell Me Why, First.

This week, I got to chat with a class of seniors from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. As a part of their Public Relations Management course, taught by PAN Communications President Phil Nardone, they spoke with a roundtable of us younger employees here at PAN. We addressed topics such as nailing an interview, networking, salary negotiations and what to expect your first day on the job. While addressing networking, it’s only natural that social networks, particularly LinkedIn, dominated a portion of the conversation. It got me thinking about my own LinkedIn connections, and how I’m pretty picky about it. Here’s the gist of it: if you’re going to request a connection with me, I better know why.

That’s not to say that I only connect with people I’ve worked with in-person on a professional level, or that I attended school with. There are plenty of people out there that have interesting backgrounds and there are a lot of opportunities for us to connect on future projects. What I’m saying, is that if you’re requesting a connection out of the blue, make your intentions clear. Explain to me why you’d like to connect in the message. Was it something that sparked you interest in my profile? Did we have a connection in common that mentioned we might be interested in connecting? Is there a specific project or opportunity you’d like to potentially collaborate on? Give me some insight into why you want to connect. If you don’t, then I probably won’t accept the connection. 

That being said, there are many who argue against my philosophy. I respect and welcome those opinions as well. For example, there’s my colleague Katelyn D’Eramo, who believes in connecting with almost everyone she meets in person, via email or on Twitter. As she says, you need to connect with people you’ve met, worked with, exchanged emails with because you’re both in similar fields – you never know where the next opportunity lies or where people are moving in the market. Some reporters just connect to search for sources, while client contacts can jump from company to another company that may need PR. For the record, I absolutely agree with Katelyn in regard to connecting with clients. LinkedIn has also become a valuable resource for news. For people like me, it’s more about the LinkedIn Today feature that brings me news that’s relevant to me. For Katelyn, it’s more about following the feeds of her connections, what articles they are updating, and learning more about the news that’s most important to them, or where they’re headed on their next venture.

Is one way better than the other? Not necessarily, like most social networking, it’s about what you make of it. That’s my PR thought for the day. What are your philosophies for connecting on LinkedIn? Are you more liberal about it like Katelyn, or are you even pickier than me?

Social Media and Cultural Diplomacy

Today I went to a panel discussion on Cultural Diplomacy as part of a Cultural Symposium at Syracuse University. (http://www.thenewshouse.com/content/cultural-diplomacy-symposium) The panel included Marjane Satrapi, Paul Salopek, David Pogue, and Shen Wei, and was moderated by SU law professor David Crane. Each of them are very respected in their fields and watching them interact was very interesting, particularly the inputs and interactions between David Pogue and Marjane Satrapi.

David Pogue is a New York Times columnist and author of "The World According to Twittter." Marjane Satrapi is an Iranian and French contemporary graphic novelist and author of "Persepolis." While the discussion was not devoted to cultural diplomacy as it related to social media, the topic certainly came up. These two panelists views on social media and cultural diplomacy seemed to be quite opposing, though both were respectable.

Pogue kicked off the discussion using his iPhone to demonstrate cultural diplomacy by using an App to listen to an amateur musician play music on his iPhone in Australia. He explained how this technology has the ability to connect with complete strangers in very unique ways. He may be impressed or unimpressed by the Australian's musical talent, but he most certainly feels connected to him, improving the diplomatic relations of two individuals. He went on to further explain his points, but I'll now explain Satrapi's side.

She criticized that social media; Twitter, Facebook, and other such outlets do not have the power to improve cultural diplomacy because it is not real. She even said something to the idea of you can have 500 friends on Facebook and none of them may be your "real" friends.

To this, I say two things. First, I disagree, this person agreed to be connected with you. Just because you cannot see or hear a person in real time, does not mean that you are not connected with one another. Secondly, who is to say, even if they are not best friends or even face-to-face friends that their connection within the social media realm cannot give them the power to influence one another?

Example: Friend A and Friend B connect on Facebook. They do not know each other personally, but have similar interests; they are in the same groups and fans of the same pages. Friend A is from the United States, and Friend B is from Iran. Two weeks go by, and Friend A puts up a status that pops up on Friend B's newsfeed. The status reads "I support the 'Greening of Iran.,'" in reference to the Green Movement that does not the support the current radical regime of Iran and may force the regime to close Iranian universities to prevent protest and opposition.

Friend B reads this and is a student at a university in Iran, who also supports the Green Movement. Friend B messages Friend A, and they begin an in-depth discussion of Iranian politics from two totally different points of view. Friend A learns a lot about the Green Movement from someone who is actually living it; and Friend B finds comfort in support from an outsider. Maybe this is a miniscule scale, but here are two people, an American and an Iranian citizen, who have forged an important bond. If that's not cultural diplomacy, I don't know what is.

Marjane Satrapi made many insightful and interesting points during the panel discussion; I simply did not personally agree with this one. If we are truly trying to improve cultural diplomatic relations, then shouldn't we go after it with any means we have available? To rule out social media, a force that is taking the world by storm, seems like taking a step backwards.

Social media is a force whose undeniable advantages should not be ignored by anyone; businessmen, politicians, diplomats, or anyone hoping to stay informed in this world. Social media does have the power to aid cultural diplomacy when used in the proper manner. Thats my PR thought for the day.

Establish Web Presence with Brand-Yourself

Establishing GOOD Web presence can be tiresome; it can be difficult; it can be tedious. But it is also vital to success in a down economy during what some have called "the Youtube era." If a potential employer googles your name, do you think they'd hire you?

Brand-yourself.com is trying to help people do just that. It's a company created by three student entrepreneurs from Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management, to help people establish a good Web presence that will help them get hired. (Disclaimer: I work for the Whitman School.)

They coach you on many aspects of the job-hunting process, such as creating a meaningful personal brand, marketing yourself online, reputation management, and the importance of useful activities, not the summer jobs where you made coffee all day. Not to knock that, I spent a few summers at Dunkin' Donuts myself in order to makes ends meet during undergrad.

All I'm saying is that anyone who's interesting in establishing a good Web presence, which should be almost everyone in this economy, should check out the tips they have, and actually put them to good use.

There are so many articles out there that are useful on this topic; all you have to do is look. One I found recently from the jobmob.com about 5 social media power tools was very useful. I actually found this article from a tweet by brand-yourself.com. Like I said, they know what they're talking about; that's why they've experienced so much success.

http://jobmob.co.il/blog/social-media-job-search-tools/

Creating a brand with brand-yourself.com can help anyone with their social and professional networking if they want to. Make sure you know what's coming up on a potential employer's screen if they google your name. That's my PR thought of the day.