But as I got more involved with Social Media - I found myself using it less and less. One of the things that I love most about Social Media is the Open Nature of communication - and I’ve felt that things like LinkedIn Mail are barriers to real communication. And in a world that moves as fast as this one - barriers just don’t work anymore.

Additionally - I was having issues with what I thought were expired invitations - although I might have been looking at the InMail system incorrectly. So in this case it was plain and simple user error.

In any event - I sent out a tweet about how frustrated I was with LinkedIn - and how I thought it was a closed system. Imagine my surprise when I immediately (I mean within 5 seconds) heard from one of the folks who works for LinkedIn. Steve Ganz. Now Steve and I have never met - so I imagine he must have been using the Twitter tracking service to track the keyword “LinkedIn”. What’s really awesome - is not only did he look into my issue - and politely let me know that I was actually mistaken. But he also offered to open up the discussion about why I think LinkedIn is a closed system - and what I think they can do to improve. Nice. Here’s the email I received:

Hi Erica,

I did a little digging and found that there really aren’t any instances that we actually expire a request. Can you tell me what type of request it was that expired for you?

The only thing I can think of is if you were to send a LinkedIn invitation request to someone who wasn’t already a member, we would send out a reminder to them once or twice and then stop the reminders. But it never actually expires.

Best,
Steve

P.S. Also, if you wouldn’t mind sharing, I’d love to hear more about your feelings that LinkedIn is a closed system. What can we do to open it up more for you?

How’s that for Open Dialogue? I’m going to be formulating a list of things I love/hate about LinkedIn as it currently stands for Steve and also post them here. So expect an update on this soon. In the meantime - Kudos to LinkedIn for an amazingly quick response and terrific user support!

It’s interesting to note that today’s users not only expect companies to listen - they also expect them to respond and take action. My friend John Moore often says: “Be Everywhere Your Customers Expect You To Be”. I think the follow-up to that is - “If you want to really impress your customers - be where they don’t expect you to be too.” Once again - Bravo to LinkedIn for listening, responding, taking action, and being cool enough to hang out on Twitter.

(more…)

“Social media right now is Stephen Covey’s Quadrant 2 (important but not urgent.) It’s not urgent….yet. Focus NOW!”

I’ll be posting my answer to this question here at 3:30 Pacific time - along with links to my responses on Twitter, Utterz & Jaiku.

“The Future of Communication is a combination of the Participatory Web and Ambient Media. I think we’re heading toward a time when we can use tools like Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce, Groovr, etc - without self-reporting. A cross between what Jambo tried to accomplish - and what Microblogging is today. That’s from a Technology Perspective. When it comes to the heart of communication though - I think we’re all still trying to figure that out. The web has become this amazing platform where anyone with something important to say can be heard. We’ve seen it time and time again - from the Hugs Campaign to Stand Up and Speak Out. The Web can make a difference and impact the world. Web 3.0 will definitely be Social Networking with a Conscience. But companies who aren’t already participating in this global conversation will start participating - either by choice or by necessity. And the Conversations will get bigger - and smaller at the same time. Everything will become Hyperlocal - and we will never feel more connected or more alone…”

Link to Twitters: http://twitter.com/ericaogrady/statuses/381613732

Link to Utterz: http://www.utterz.com/~u-NDk2NDgzNA/utt.php

This week would also be a good time to revisit The Cluetrain Manifesto - I think that we’re about to see a remarkable shift in the way companies and people do business - and these two resources are your treasure map to the fabled city of Marketsville.

I’m a Social Media Consultant. Part of my job here at Peanut Butter Media is to help companies create active Communities Online and Off. For some companies this is easier than others. And I think I know one reason why (here’s that aha moment I had with Geri): Some Companies are Vanilla. They are plain & nondescript. They might be Rich in Ideas or Funding or even Talent. From the outside - they are dependable, loyal, common & ordinary. Unfortunately - they aren’t memorable.

My friend John Moore gives a Great Talk on Ideals that Spark Ideas. One of his main tenets is to “Make The Common - Uncommon”. It’s impossible to make something “go viral” - but it’s easy to make something unique and different. And that’s where I start with Vanilla Companies in Social Media.

Of course one always prefers starting with something Pistachio flavored. YUM Pistachio…

Bloggers everywhere are united together today in one single cause. Today - over 15K blogs across the world will discuss one issue - The Environment.

I’d like to take this opportunity to highlight some of my favorite “Go Green” Websites.

• WorldChanging.org - According to Bruce Sterling it’s “The Most Important Website on The Planet”
• Zaadz - The Social Network with a Conscience
• IPCC - The Intergovermental Planet on Climate Change (they did just win The Nobel Peace Prize)
• Greenpeace - The Best known Environmental Organization in the World

So go read up - and do something good for our world today!

1. Create an Idea or Brain Bank (my magic number is 50 ideas for this week).
2. Listen to a Different Radio Station Every Day.
3. Find a Photo with A LOT of Detail.
4. Practice Basic Shapes - vertical lines, horizontal lines, circles, arcs, spirals, wavy lines (vertical & horizontal), squares, rectangles, diamonds, triangle, arrow
5. Come up with a list of emotions.

I’m feeling more creative already!