Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Social Networking at it's best

I heard a commercial a few weeks back on the radio that focused on social networking. I can't remember what the commercial was for (which questions the effectiveness of the ad), but I think it might have been McDonald's.

Seems a guy was really in to social networking. He had just received a virtual high five from a friend and was looking for a way to spend some of his virtual bucks in another virtual game. Some real friends ask him if he wants to go to McDonald's (or the advertiser's) and he explained that he had to wait on a virtual reply.

The focus was on real networking with real people - - and of course the now forgotten advertiser.

Last night, I had dinner with an old college Friend that I met through Facebook. A couple of weeks ago his sister found me and then I found him. We haven't seen each other in around 27 years, but he commented that we hadn't changed that much, just that we had both put on a couple of pounds (well, understatement is a good thing).

We talked over dinner about our careers, our interests and our families. It's amazing how many times in the last 27 years our paths have nearly crossed, even working for the same company for about three years at one time and never knowing it.

Not sure when we'll have a chance to get together again, we live about 4.5 hours apart, work took me to his town. I make this trip every 2-4 months, but often have dinner plans with a client when I get here.

But at least something positive can come out of social networking.

1 comment:

Thomas said...

That's great Facebook allowed you to reconnect with an old friend. My wife also has an account and was recently "friended" by a girl she's not seen since junior high (close to 25 years ago). They plan to reunite this summer when we go to Illinois.