Writing blogs is a new experience for me and as such an exciting new toy for expressing my ideas and inviting reactions from others.
First Stephen Covey (The 8th Habit), and today an article in The Times, have brought home to me the significant difference that the internet and social networking tools are making to people in communicating and expressing themselves, and in generally making their ‘voices’ heard.
According to The Times, from May 2008 – 2009, the use of LinkedIn has increased by 63% (Wikipedia gives a figure of more than 43 million current users), Facebook by 78% to more than 15 million, and Twitter by 1679% to 2.6 million!
So I have a vision of all these people, both at home and at work, finding ways to express themselves and interact with people that are just not available in their day-to-day lives.
Should we be trying to bring back the corridor / coffee-break / water-cooler environments at work; finding ways to harness the social media as part of work life; or just accept that life has moved on?
I shall go on reflecting on whether there is a key here to greater empowerment of people at work, and more effective information and knowledge sharing… In the meantime, any thoughts from others very welcome.
Elisabeth Goodman's Blog 
Elizabeth, Thanks for your thoughts. I just began reading the newly released, “Who’s Got Your Back ” by Keith Ferrazzi. As the author of “Never Eat Alone” and known as Mr. Relationship, he strongly affirms the power of relationships that go deeper than mere networking. While I am not far into his book, I think he would heartily endorse your suggestion that we need – maybe more than ever before – opportunities for face-to-face time.
Wes Avants
Wes, many thanks for your feedback. I shall definitely add Keith Ferrazzi to my list of authors to read! I’m finding that even making an effort to regularly connect with my LinkedIn contacts by e-mail makes an enormous difference. Skype is also a fabulous tool too for telephone and video interaction with those who have it and where real face-to-face is not easy for geographical reasons.