Social networking is like that hair commercial from the 70’s – “and they’ll tell their friend, and they’ll tell their friend, and so on, and so on….”.

Building true communities and connections online is a slow process.  You see people with thousands of ‘friends’ on twitter and Facebook and that’s great – but how many true, meaningful, caring connections are being made there? I’d wager not many.  Some people think that when you’re starting a new community online that you should just open it up and magically everyone will rush to participate and although that might be great, that’s just not how it typically happens.

When I think back to days on the BBS where I played L.O.R.D. or the chatrooms on IRC where I spent so much time, or the first spots I frequented in Second Life back in 2004 – they were small. Very few people were there at first, but little by little, one by one.. those communities would grow.  They grew because people had conversations and learned about others.  They gave us a place we felt welcomed and appreciated – a sense of belonging.  It was a slow process, but one that – at least for me- formed lasting friendships that still have me talking to those people even 10 years after leaving those communities for new ones.

If you want to build a strong, true, caring community that has genuine compassion and strength, you have to do it slowly, one by one, learning from each other. I’m convinced of it. Plus once you take the time to have those one-on-one conversations you learn things about people that might seem mundane in the whole huge scheme of things, but those small little things are what build connections.  Those hair commercials had it right all along.

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My job is all about bringing people together through the use of technology. I absolutely love it and have no qualms about saying that I think I have one of the best jobs ever. I would never have thought in a million years when I was playing L.O.R.D. on my friend’s BBS in 1994/95 that I’d now have the job title of “Social Networks Adviser”.  I’ve said before though (and I’m saying it again) that I truly and strongly believe that there is such power in online communities. It becomes so much more than the sum of its parts and even saying that it’s synergistic seems to be an understatement.

My journey into social networking started on a friend’s BBS. I met the friend because she hired me (in an interview at my local Dairy Queen, no less) to work in the chiropractic clinic that she managed. She started her own BBS and told me about it. After we purchased our first computer (Macintosh PowerPC) and I connected to her local BBS, I was hooked.  Not long after that the internet arrived in our little town (oooooo). A friend I met on the BBS told me about IRC and I started hanging out there.  That friend led to others and over the course of time, I grew to know many people and became an IRCop on dal.net  (It was a big deal at the time, trust me).  During those “IRC” years, I met and made so many connections online that people started hosting offline ‘gathers’ in their area and friends would travel all over the country to meet people in person. I attended several of these events and it was like a family reunion each and every time.  In 1999 while I was hanging out in an IRC channel on dal.net called #ircbar (which is funny because I really don’t drink that much) I met a man who would later become my husband, but I certainly didn’t know that at the time either.

Skip forward a few years and now social networking takes on an entirely different meaning with completely new tools. We’re using twitter, virtual worlds, blogs, video, podcasts, etc.. to connect with people in ways we never could before. We’re chatting and connecting and making new friends that might live halfway across the world from us, without batting an eye.

My job, I think, is really intended to help our students make these connections with each other, and grow a true sense of community from that.  We’re working on that, and getting there with small steps toward that goal and I think we’re doing a good job.  In doing this, though, there have been some connections that were not intentional and have come to be some of the most amazing people I’ve met.

I feel almost as though I’ve spent so many years connecting with people from all over the US and the world, and now that’s almost completely spun around for me and the most powerful connections I’m making are right here in my small town.  At the same time, though, I honestly believe that even though these people work for the same university I work for, and live in the same town that I live in, I would never have been able to connect with them like I have.. without the use of social networking.

There’s something about online conversations and online community that lends itself so beautifully to opening doors. I’m not sure if it’s the lack of traditional barriers or if it’s just the ease of communication, but once again.. online connections are changing my world. I couldn’t be happier.