Social capital and the electronic rolodex

I once worked for an elderly gentleman who had two massive rolodexes on his desk. They were not the modern flip-chart types but metal boxes that resembled filing cabinets. Being a veteran in the banking industry, he had built an extensive network that was physically represented in those two rolodexes.  There were easily more than 1000 contacts typed, written, or scribbled on those sheets of papers packed tighter than sardines in a can. The two half-a-century old rolodexes looked more like trophies sitting on his desk than ordinary stationery. And he was proud of them. Each morning he would scroll through them and randomly pick up some names who he would call to chat in the day. Watching that was a live lesson of old-style social networking. He was not only catching up with his contacts – he was also actively seeking deal opportunities!

In the earliest days of business school orientations, we were taught to capitalize on our social capital and to reach out through our ‘weak links’. Social capital refers to our networks of friends, family, and friends-of-friends. Our networks are a valuable resource that is unique to each individual and can be helpful in simple matters like getting advise on food, to serious issues like getting a new job or even finding a spouse. In the course of our everyday lives, we would likely interact only with a small portion of our networks, with people like family and colleagues at work. ‘Weak links’ refers to connections within one’s networks that are not actively maintained. These are people who we interact with not more than ten times a year. We were told that most job-seekers found work through their ‘weak links’ and not from friends whom they see more often. It is therefore important to keep one’s networks alive and refresh some weak links from time to time.

I had a first hand experience of the value of social capital which prompted me to write this and advocate social capital and social networking. In the midst of business school, when we were all desperately searching for an internship, a friend of mine who knew I was searching, referred me to the job at a boutique advisory firm in NYC, and I had the best internship experience of my life. My friend knew my background in technology would be helpful in a technology deal that they were advising on and got his boss to take me in. And he sold me so well that I did not even have to go through gruelling technical interviews! In fact, I was also able to spend some time in Silicon Valley interning at a niche-consulting firm because I happened to hear a classmate talk about her upcoming internship there and then I asked her to refer me to her supervisor for a short stint. It is such incidents that makes one thankful for friends and especially friends who care about your welfare. Of course, they will not be able to help if they did not know of your needs. My friend would not have introduced me to the old man with his rolodexes, if he did not know that I was looking for an internship. So it is also important to ocassionally ping one’s network, or to reach out and tell people.

Which brings me to the point of this note – social networking tools are a great way to manage and grow one’s social capital. Facebook and LinkedIn are the electronic rolodexes of the 21st century, and the two social networking platforms that I use most often.

LinkedIn is touted to be for the professional setting as it has its roots in connecting professionals such as executives, bankers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, etc. LinkedIn encourages members to post details that one can typically find in a resume and has a feature of having someone give you a testimony of the experience of working with you. This is an incredibly powerful feature for those seeking background information on potential hires.

Facebook connects people in a more casual setting. With roots in the dormitories of Harvard, it appeals to youth and emphasizes a lot on interactivity, fun and games. However, it wasn’t long before everyone, even old grandparents, got onto Facebook in order to ‘friend’ their grandchildren in order to see pictures that were being shared on their grandchildrens’ Facebook profile pages.

These social networking sites are a fantastic way to manage one’s networks and communicate quickly with friends and family. One can either do an online chat or post a message to the other person to keep in touch. By cutting the hurdles of cost and time, these sites facilitate the nurturing and growth of one’s social capital.

An excellent feature of Facebook is the ‘status update’ which allows one to post a short one-liner that gets collected in a live-feed that appears to one’s social network. Each person on Facebook gets these messages from their friends, thus keeping each other informed of one’s activities (or boring complains). I once broadcasted a message asking if anyone had been to Suzhou Industrial Park as I wanted to hear an on-the-ground voice about the place and within the hour I was introduced by a friend to someone who works there. Such was the power of this new-age electronic rolodex. I could reach out to the ‘weak links’ much faster. In the old days, if I really wanted to get that information, I might have to tediously exhaust the names in a rolodex. Now, a simple ping on Facebook allows me to tap on my social capital. Of course, this also requires that contacts in one’s network is plugged in to the extensive flow of information on Facebook. Instead of a ‘push’ model where one has to intentionally make the call to tell a friend some piece of information, it becomes a ‘push/pull’ model where I’m pushing info to my profile page and you can access that info at your leisure.

Yes, I sometimes spend time looking at my friends’ profile pages to find out if they are doing anything interesting or that might spark new ideas. In addition to constantly reading breaking news from CNBC and Bloomberg that are pushed to my iPhone, I’m also frequently skimming through Facebook’s live-feed. On the one hand, technology has set us free and helped us be more connected to each other, but on the other hand, we are bound by it to read the flood of updates, some of which are inane and a complete waste of time. If only we could filter those to lessen the noise in our social spheres!

Happy FB-ing

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