I'm checking out all sorts of social networking sites, mostly just for fun. Right now, I'm finding the most useful from a business standpoint is LinkedIn and the most useful from a generally social standpoint relevant to my personal life is Maya's Mom.
What I like about LinkedIn:
1. I'm actually finding people I want to reconnect with, especially from the old New Media days.
2. I'm finding people I'd like to network with from a business standpoint - helpful connections for my current work.
What I like about Maya's Mom:
1. It is easy to use and intuitive so I don't have to waste time trying to make sense of it.
2. It allows me to import my personal blog so I'm not blogging all over the place with different blogs.
3. I am actually joining groups on topics that are of interest to me (baby wearing, baby sign language, work at home moms, etc.). I'm actually posting and following threads - something that my fuzzy brain finds challenging on any other online moms' forum.
4. It emails me a daily digest of any relevant activity in my groups and with my account. This draws me back in to the exact location something new has occurred.
5. You can only do a limited number of things on it - it isn't trying to be everything to everyone with every bell and whistle it can throw out there. It feels more focus and directed to me making it easier for me to handle it, even after a challenging day juggling all the parts of my life.
Like LinkedIn, Maya's Mom is only as good as the effort I put into interacting with it. The more I connect with others, the more I post, the more benefits I get back that are finely tuned to my own needs.
While I am still futzing around with MySpace a few minutes each day, I'm not feeling any kind of community connection there - it just seems to disjointed. I'm enjoying uploading videos of the baby on YouTube but not really forming or participating in community there.
Right now, all the rest of the sites are just not grabbing me, not compelling me to participate or driving me totally insane trying to figure them out or remember how to do things on them. I've got mommy brain - be obvious and intuitive or I'm out of there.
What are your favorite social networking sites, and where can I find you?
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