Hello. My name is Talia and I’m an Internet addict.
I have been since the very beginning, when I was a freshman in college. When people would ask what my major was, my mother would, half-jokingly, answer that I was majoring in email. At the time, the extent of my Internet use, besides email, was searching for “One Life to Live” spoilers on soap opera message boards.
But as the Internet grew, so did my use.
I began searching for “Days of our Lives” spoilers as well.
Just kidding.
I discovered the wonderful world of IRC chats and learned what LOL and ROTFL meant. I had Juno email, surfed the Net with Netscape, used Lycos or Alta Vista as my search engines, found game sites, and discovered the wonderful world of IMDB. No more wondering what movie that guy was in! Life was GREAT! I rapidly became the girl who could find anything online – so I was very popular.
But I digress.
My post college career actually started in the television industry, but after a few years I decided I wanted out, so I made the transfer into hi tech and began working at a very large video site. While working there, one of our founders made me join Facebook. Within a few of days, I had a couple hundred friends and I was addicted.
Working in hi tech among other computer freaks is a great way to be introduced to new sites, and while I knew about Twitter, it actually took me a very long time to join. I actually joined because I wanted to increase traffic to my personal blog, so I added a bunch of people with interests similar to mine, and also some who worked in similar fields.
I quickly developed a nice network of people, some of whom have become real life friends who I cherish deeply. Luckily, my network is also very tech savvy, and whenever I have a computer-related question, I tweet my question and it’s answered within minutes.
For those of you who don’t know, Twitter is a microblogging site where you communicate with people via “status messages” of 140 characters or less. You can follow people, people can follow you, and you aren’t obligated to “be friends” with everyone who follows you. My Facebook account is private - I will only add people I know in real life - but my Twitter account is, for the most part, comprised of people who I have never met and will most likely never meet.
A couple months ago, I was laid off as part of the economic crisis.
Imagine my excitement.
After the initial shock wore off, I wrote in my Facebook status and tweeted that I was looking for a job in web product management. Within minutes, many people from my network contacted me and asked me for my resume.
A couple hours later, I received a reply from someone who was following me. I wasn’t following her. I had never met her before. I had never spoken to her before. I’m pretty sure I had never seen her name before. Nonetheless, this absolutely perfect stranger who didn’t know me from a hole in the wall told me that another Twitter user was looking for a product manager and had me contact him. I sent him a tweet, and he asked me to email him my resume.
He is now my boss.
The end.
Just kidding.
My first interview at ArticlesBase was less than a week after I was laid off. I began working about a month later (had to tie up loose ends at the old job). I had other interviews (donâ’t tell my boss!) and had other offers (don’t tell my boss!), but there was something about ArticlesBase that pulled me in - maybe it was the plethora of possibilities, maybe it was a “click” with the site, maybe it was knowing that the founders appreciated the importance of social media (I’m a former community manager) - or maybe it was all of the above.
One thing’s for sure: While I had already previously appreciated the importance of networking online, it hadn’t actually hit home for me until a few months ago when I was suddenly faced with the need to use my network.
So here’s my advice to you: Don’t build your social network to find you a job. It won’t work that way. Just like you shouldn’t have people recommend you on LinkedIn after you’ve been laid off.
I didn’t join Facebook or LinkedIn or Twitter (or any other sites I’m on) to help me with future job searches should the need arise. I enjoy social networking, probably because I talk a lot (seriously, I type about 100 words per minute so my fingers can keep up with my brain).
Through Twitter I have built a name in my industries (I’m a dork, so I like doing a few things at once, in this case product management as well as community management), I have made really great friends, and have a huge group of people who can help me with technical issues should the need arise. And, oh, yeah, I found a job, too.
Speaking of Twitter, I have officially taken over the ArticlesBase Twitter account, so follow us (me?) there (www.twitter.com/ArticlesBase). I’ll be updating you about new features, contests, welcoming suggestions or comments you may have, and generally having a fun time (while trying to get some work done on the side).
See you on Twitter!