So much debate going on about social network overload. Are there too many? Have we stretched ourselves too thin? Can we possibly keep up with them all? What’s the true value?

My question, though, is a little different. Iâ??m wondering if our tone across the different networks is the same. Do you feel more relaxed at one site than you do at another? Which you is where? Now, donâ??t get me wrong, I donâ??t mean to say that weâ??re portraying different personas in different places, one more contrived than another, I just happen to think that we may open up a little bit more in different environments. We may be a bit more relaxed.

Hereâ??s how I explained my social networking participation to a colleague:

My blog = my office
If you come into my office as a client or colleague, thereâ??s a 100% chance that the relationship weâ??d build offline is the same Iâ??m building with you here online. I consider this webpage to be the online version of my office â?? and what you see here is how I would be in person in a work setting. I consider LinkedIn to be the same.

Twitter = going for drinks after work
Here I have a different relationship with colleagues. We let our receding hairlines down a little bit at Twitter, as weâ??ve gotten to know each other on a different level. We talk about business, share ideas and get to know each other on a more personal level. Itâ??s not office-level tone, but itâ??s built based on it.

Facebook = coming over to my house
This oneâ??s a little different, this is like being invited over to my house. Facebook is a little less â??proâ?� and a little more â??friendâ?�. There, I tend to be more casual, knowing that Iâ??m connected to old friends, current ones and new ones. This is where we pull out the pics of the kids, joke around a little more one-on-one and treat the network as a playground.

There are exceptions to this, of course, like the Age of Conversation Contributors + Friends group. But, for the most part, Iâ??m more casual over on Facebook. I do notice that more business colleagues are there and that, as my friends list grows to include more of them, I wonder if this will change. Hope not.

Why is this on my mind? An old friend, a mentor of mine, took me to task recently, and let me know that my blog isnâ??t me. Or at least that the tone on my blog doesnâ??t reflect the real me. At first, his comment pissed me off â?? how would you feel if someone thought you were being less than genuine and told you so? But then, I thought about it and realized two things:

1. We met when I was a junior, bright-eyed and obnoxious. Maybe a little too much for my own good. Since then, I’ve worked at different agencies, matured a lot and just generally grew up. I think it’s natural for him to think that my blog isn’t reflective of the guy he knows, because the relationship we have is built from a different context. Shit, we haven’t worked together in almost eight years. A lot has changed since then.
2. The environment you’re in has an effect on tone. When I came into Facebook, it was mostly to connect with current and old friends. From the start, I’ve entered that network with a different mindset. I understand that not everybody differentiates between the networks, but my purpose for using the different sites is different.

All in all, I’d say it comes down to comfort level, connection goal and relationship type. And, through each of these networks, these may all be different.

Do you see where I’m coming from? How do you feel about the social networks youâ??re in?

P.S. Ryan, you should reconsider on Facebook. You’ve just got to come into it with a different mindset this time around.

P.P.S. Get to know me on all levels. Subscribe to my blog. Join my LinkedIn network. Follow me on Twitter. Look for me on Facebook.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 20th, 2007 at 2:20 pm and is filed under Blogging, Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.