There are different levels and types of social interaction. If you are in business, you have some idea of the personna you want to project, depending upon how you want to be perceived. In real life, your personality is somewhat compartmentalized- you don't wear a swim suit and bring a six-pack in to work, I don't care how casual your Fridays are, although it's behavior you would feel comfortable with outside of the work environment.
And these different ways of presenting yourself transfer to the social media etherscape. In some arenas you are more formal; in others, you take your virtual shoes off and put your feet on the coffee table.
So why not create structures within your social media landscape for doing just this? These social media microcultures can fill the need you have for relating within smaller subsets of your life- but better than this: you will be creating little worlds to fill other peoples' needs as well.
IDENTIFY YOUR PURPOSE
This is a site that I put together for our group The TwitterQueens. This represents a large subgroup in my life, as it combines business, education and friendship, and I feel like that may be the case for most of the other members. If the truth be told, I just got it up and running, and the members of the group add content in the form of photos, videos, social media and personal blogs, and events for the calendar. It takes some maintenance, but it's not anything that is difficult to do.
I went to ning, and signed up for a free site. No coding required; it is as easy as choosing what types of interaction you want to add to your site. From the page manager site, you can add photos, notes, birthdays, video, a blog feature that all members can add to- check out our site and see what you can do.
LESS INTERACTIVE
If you are interested in something less complex but that still creates connections, consider using Crowdvine. I first saw that used prior to RE Tech South, and it was a nice way to connect with those coming to the event prior to actually arriving- in fact, the creators of the site say that once people meet online, "...it's our job to get out of the way." There is a no-cost option for setting this up as well.
AND IT DOESN'T GET ANY EASIER THAN
...building a Facebook fan page. If you haven't signed up with Facebook, you will have to do that, and build a profile. Then you need to determine your focus- business? educational? a personal interest? Having decided that, click here to begin building your page. People can sign up, post to you, and RSVP to events you plan.
It has never been easier to find like-minded people to share with- whether it be real estate agents sharing leads and tips, vacationers writing reviews of vacation spots, parents supporting each other through the joys and trials of raising children, or singles trying to meet people that they have something in common with. The choice is yours. Decide your focus, and create a social media network of your own.
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Thanks for sharing. Thought the twitterqueens was a cute idea. Paulia