Can you imagine living in a less-connected world?

It’s hard to believe that there are people in this world who choose to live without the convenience that modern technology provides us. But this past weekend, I discovered there are people out there that get by without constant connection.

Some relatives were visiting for the holidays, and somehow or another the topic of bank accounts came up. A family member hadn’t opened a savings account for their toddler yet and didn’t even use a savings account for their own finances. I’ve had a savings account since I was born. I can’t imagine keeping track of my finances without the help of my bank (nor could I justify not earning – although minimal – interest on my savings).

Later on, we flipped through our 100 or so cable channels to try and find a football score, and I learned the same family member without more than a checking account has also never had cable and recently got rid of her home internet service. Her family can afford these services, but chooses not to have them. And it’s not that they live in the boondocks and are completely old fashioned either. Her family lives 30 minutes from the city and she works in an office where she uses computers most of the day.

Needless to say, I was dumbfounded. I can’t imagine not having the Internet, cable, a savings account. And I just got an internet-enabled phone so I can stay even more connected to my e-mail, Twitter, and even my three bank accounts! How can my relatives get by in today’s world of hyper-connection and information-on-demand?

I remember when my last living grand parent passed away. My family went through the house from top-to-bottom looking for miscellaneous coffee cans, shoe boxes, and other containers filled with my grandpa’s hidden savings. He had bank accounts, sure, but he also kept cash on hand – probably more than was really necessary. I also have older family members who still don’t do e-mail or have home computers… but I can understand their ability to survive without because the technology wasn’t around for most of their lives.

Then there’s my own childhood. I remember when I was in grade school and my family didn’t own a computer. There was a time when I wasn’t connected to the world beyond those people I called on the telephone. But I can’t imagine being a child these days, growing up without the ability to connect with kids halfway across the world. And I can’t imagine not wanting to connect (at least some of the time) for purposes beyond what your job demands.

There is definitely something to be said for playing in the backyard and creating imaginary worlds with your dolls and action heroes, but once you’re past the age of play-dates and night games how do you survive without an Internet connection? I do like a weekend here or there away from technology. But to live every day without the ease of looking up a recipe, flipping through the latest headlines, and accessing financial statements with the click of a mouse… that is not something I think I can compromise. Cable… yea, I could survive with just the network channels.

But how does someone in their mid-thirties live each day of their life without what has become a basic necessity? Are you 18-40 years of age and “unconnected” at home? Can you live a life without the ability to connect at the flip of a switch? Help me imagine surviving in that world…

Social Media Personal Purpose and Usage

I admit I was not an early adopter of social media networks. My friends had to create a Facebook page for me my sophomore year of college because I didn't really see the purpose in having one. But now that I have embraced and accepted (and even defended) the merits of social media, I'm finding that not only am I more willing to use social media but I use my networks in different ways. The following is a break down of my purpose and my use of social media sites.

Facebook: My first experience with social media
As I said above, I did not willingly participate in Facebook at first. I started college right when Facebook was getting big, and I had reservations about the safety of my information online and didn't want every new person I met at college looking me up on Facebook (let's be honest, not everyone needs to be your "friend"). Now, I still maintain a high level of privacy and only friend people I'm actually friends with  (or was friends with in the past). My main purpose in using Facebook is to keep up with friends - not co-workers, professional acquaintances, etc. I'm a member of several groups, post photos, post links (mostly to vent anger about some recent news event or something I'm proud of like my high school or college winning a championship), use some applications (mostly college basketball related), support/fan a couple of political groups/people, and comment on friend's statuses. The main purpose is staying in contact with friends on a friend-level - I don't mix much professional related content with the fun stuff.

LinkedIn: Getting professional about it
Unfortunately, I joined LinkedIn after graduating college. I say this is unfortunate because had I joined earlier, I would have been able to keep in touch with a lot more professional contacts. So if you’re still in college, know that it is never too early to start building your professional network (both online and in-person). I mainly use LinkedIn as an online representation of my resume and to connect with my professional contacts online. I am connected with some former college classmates via LinkedIn, but most work in my industry, so having them in my professional network makes sense. One of my major uses of LinkedIn is to research companies and see if I have connections at companies where I’m interested in applying for a position. I also direct everyone I come in contact with professionally to my LinkedIn profile: I have the direct link to my profile on my personal business cards, my e-mail signature, and on all my other social media profiles.

Twitter: Tweeting my thoughts
I joined Twitter after graduating college, mostly because I didn’t know enough about it before then. At first, I used it mainly to follow other people – news and marketing/communications industry resources, friends from college in the marketing/communications industry, and political people and organizations. Then, once I got a feeling for how people were using Twitter, I began posting my own tweets about interesting articles, current events, meals I cooked, the weather (cause in MN it’s always eventful), and sports. My twitter page is really the 140-character year old brother of this blog. I’ve also started to use Twitter to search for jobs by setting up an RSS feed of certain search criteria. I haven’t had much success with this yet, but through trial and error have been able to refine the search for more applicable results.

Library Thing: I like reading, how 'bout you?
The bookworm’s social media network, Library Thing is a convenient tool for cataloguing your personal library and comparing your reading interests with other users. I don’t remember where I heard about Library Thing, but much like my Amazon wish list and recommendations, this social network helps me find new books to read based on my past reading experiences. I joined a couple of groups on the website and check them every once in a while if I’m looking for a good read that I would probably not have heard of otherwise. A very specialized social network, but one I enjoy participating in for fun.

Brazen Careerist: Young professionals sharing ideas
I just recently joined Brazen Careerist even though I’ve had a Google Reader feed of their featured posts for over year. At first I joined because I wanted to comment on a blog post, but after commenting I was inspired to start my own profile on the Brazen Careerist network and start my own blog (ta-da!). I keep my profile here pretty similar to that on LinkedIn – professional – and I joined a couple of groups both to network and for fun (I joined a cooking group and a book group to get ideas for my own cooking and reading endeavors). I also link my blog to Brazen Careerist so that when I post something here it shows up in my profile on Brazen Careerist and maybe someone out there will read it. I also link to my Brazen Careerist profile through LinkedIn so my professional network there can see some of the other online work and things I’m participating in.

Blog No. 2: Sharing my opinions and advice
The final piece of the puzzle. As I’ve said before, this blog’s intention is to be a place for me to share my thoughts, however random they may be, and to continue writing as much as I can. I link to this blog through Brazen Careerist so my professional network can see what I’m thinking and doing, and it is a much lengthier version of my Twitter page.

So there you have it: my social media purpose and use. To sum up, I keep my personal and professional social networks fairly separate:

• Strictly personal: Facebook, Library Thing
• Strictly professional: LinkedIn
• A mixture of both, but mostly professional: Twitter, Brazen Careerist, this blog

I also keep in mind the purpose of each site when posting information; for example, I wouldn’t post political commentary on LinkedIn because I don’t work in politics (or have any desire to do so). I would, and do, post political commentary on Twitter and Facebook because these are less professional-related sites (for me personally). Even though different sites have different purposes, I think it is still important to be consistent across networks. This doesn’t mean posting identical information everywhere (I wouldn’t advise that), but – at least on professional sites – creating a brand for your self and sticking to it. With all the interconnectivity of different websites, it is quite easy to create a consistent online brand, so utilize the technology.