The Interwebs: and no, I’m not talking about Lolcats

As I begin pre-production and research on a very large, independent project (which I will discuss in great length once the time is right) I’ve been thinking more about the connections that I’ve made over the past four years and the ways in which that network has helped guide me to where I am. I alluded to this phenomenon in my last post when I gave my vague, sweeping gratitudes. But beyond the initial appreciation of how my network has helped me, I’ve been thinking about the broader principal of the way networking helps all of us. For the sake of being cheeky and hip, I’m calling it the interweb-no, I’m not talking about lolcats-an inter-connecting, intertwining web of social connections and interactions.

Think about your social network like a web: when you connect with someone new, that’s an individual thread of webbing. By itself, it’s not likely to catch any flies or even have the visibility to prevent an inadvertent passerby from walking right through and severing the tie. But that’s the beauty of the interweb- when you connect with someone, and I mean really connect, it’s not a linear two-way relationship. You are then granted access to all of the threads of webbing that they have established, greatly enhancing the utility of your web. But if you only have one thread connected to the rest of the web, your chances of catching the fly are again pretty slim.

What you will discover quickly, is that if you have made a connection with anyone outside of that initial thread, you’ve likely already given yourself a stronger place in the web. The whole concept of six degrees of separation is great on a global scale, but in specific industries it shrinks to maybe three. More likely it’s two. And just like a web, if you’re a point from which interlocking threads of like-minded individuals branch out, well my friend you’ll be living large on flies tonight.

Admittedly, the metaphor is not perfect. Whereas most spiderwebs are fairly flat, when built correctly your interweb is more like an interlocking sphere connected points, but you get the idea.

So think about how the things you say, or post, or take pictures of affect the rest of the web and your connection to it. Think about how a vibration on one end of the web informs the spider at the other that dinner has arrived. Now think about what the vibrations and signals you’re sending are saying to the other sides of your web because unlike a spider’s web, your interweb has a memory.

That said, go out and make the connections, build strength from multiple points of contacts and make the best vibration possible. If you do it well and in the right way, the tremors will travel through the web and you’ll be rewarded with a nice, juicy fly. If you make the wrong vibrations, you’re likely to end up on a joggers face with no dinner and no connections.

How do you use social networking to achieve your career and social goals? What advice do you have to help make the best vibrations?