I Don't Usually Kiss 'n Tell, but. . .
If you know me, you know that I am not the type to Kiss 'n Tell. But, this time, I just have to. After a recent acceleration of Facebook use and connections, I have just succeeded in my first true Facebook "hookup." Over the past year, I have reconnected with old friends and learned so much more about what is important to many of my Facebook friends; but just this week, directly as a result of Facebook, I successfully introduced a guy to a company and he is joining!
Maybe that doesn't sound that exciting. Undoubtedly, a lot of people have found jobs through Facebook connections. But the amazing thing is that this guy wasn't looking for a job! We had never discussed anything like this.
Here's the general scheme of things (without saying to much in order protect peoples' privacy).
First, my friend and I have kept in touch for the 10 years or so that we have known each other. But, as a result of Facebook, we have been "chatting" so much more. After about 2 months of chats, "cross-commenting", and "wall-talking" my friend suggested we have lunch. Then, the night before our lunch, I had an epiphany: this guy who was happily living his life and not in any way looking for a new job, might be uniquely qualified to fill a nearly-unfillable role at the company of another friend.
So, we had lunch and the question was posed; the worst that happened was that the guy said no. But it turned out that he didn't say no. He got excited about the idea and the introduction was made. The rest is history.
This is so exciting because it happened by leaps of creativity. Facebook didn't do that, but the proximity of the people, the reconnections, etc. triggered the creativity.
It never occured to me that Facebook would become a part of the creative process. But it did. And, by the way, over the past year, I have had other "creative" experiences with Facebook as well (though they are somewhat less dramatic). Interestingly, it's not clear that LinkIn or Plaxo would create the same kind of creativity. Because the dialog is more stilted (or maybe I haven't figured them out yet -- which says something in itself).
Of course, this blog is about communications -- and this is a perfect example of how communications is changing and perhaps how we are all potentially more creative because of them.
Maybe that doesn't sound that exciting. Undoubtedly, a lot of people have found jobs through Facebook connections. But the amazing thing is that this guy wasn't looking for a job! We had never discussed anything like this.
Here's the general scheme of things (without saying to much in order protect peoples' privacy).
First, my friend and I have kept in touch for the 10 years or so that we have known each other. But, as a result of Facebook, we have been "chatting" so much more. After about 2 months of chats, "cross-commenting", and "wall-talking" my friend suggested we have lunch. Then, the night before our lunch, I had an epiphany: this guy who was happily living his life and not in any way looking for a new job, might be uniquely qualified to fill a nearly-unfillable role at the company of another friend.
So, we had lunch and the question was posed; the worst that happened was that the guy said no. But it turned out that he didn't say no. He got excited about the idea and the introduction was made. The rest is history.
This is so exciting because it happened by leaps of creativity. Facebook didn't do that, but the proximity of the people, the reconnections, etc. triggered the creativity.
It never occured to me that Facebook would become a part of the creative process. But it did. And, by the way, over the past year, I have had other "creative" experiences with Facebook as well (though they are somewhat less dramatic). Interestingly, it's not clear that LinkIn or Plaxo would create the same kind of creativity. Because the dialog is more stilted (or maybe I haven't figured them out yet -- which says something in itself).
Of course, this blog is about communications -- and this is a perfect example of how communications is changing and perhaps how we are all potentially more creative because of them.
Labels: communications strategy, company-building, PR, PR 2.0, public relations
posted by Abigail Johnson at 10:24 AM
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