Modern Online Business

It's hardly a secret that explosive growth and accelerating popularity have become synonymous with social networking. More than a quarter million people join MySpace every day. In a single day, it has 4.5 billion page views. Facebook has over 200 million members, LinkedIn has nearly 40 million, and Twitter jumped from 4 to 17 million "tweeters" in just 3 months.

But despite this exuberance for connecting with friends, fans, colleagues and even complete strangers, not everyone is embracing this new form of communication with unconditional love. In that vein I wondered how different behavioral styles (D-I-S-C) might affect an individual's response to social networking.

D: Social networking is all about gaining market share and beating the pants off our competition. The change brought about by all this disruptive innovation, ambiguity, and complexity - it's the perfect environment for me to establish myself as the expert. I've got so much to tell people and Twitter is great. What more can I ask for - tell someone what I'm thinking in 140 characters or less!

I: Woohoo! For me, social networking sites keep me on a 24/7 high. They are a dream come true. I know no strangers, just friends I haven't met yet. I can now become friends with people all over the world. I feel like I'm at one continuous party. I love getting invitations to follow other people. That means other people find me interesting. It's such a warm feeling knowing that I never have to feel alone again. I can say whatever is on my mind whenever I want and there is always someone who is ready and willing to talk.

S: I'm overwhelmed. I opened accounts in Linkedin and Facebook but I wasn't sure what to do next. I got to the personal profile and felt uncomfortable sharing my birthday with complete strangers. How do I know that I can trust all these people who send me invitations? I've never even heard of many of them before? How much can I believe about the information people put on their profile? If I'm going to join a site, I'm going to start with just one and feel my way around. But I'm exhausted just thinking about getting started.

C: I'm really squeamish about this whole thing. There's just no research that any of these sites will ever last...and then what happens with all my information. Is it safe? You never can be too careful. Someone needs to prove to me that my privacy will be protected and that I can control who sees my profile. Only a fool would want to share their personal information with a complete stranger. I've got to study this more and evaluate the benefits vs. risk. If I do become a member, you can be assured I will keep my profile protected and only connect with people that I know and trust.