Thoughts on Social Media, Weak Ties and Bridging Capital

I had the pleasure of attending the Social Media for Nonprofits Conference in San Francisco last Friday.  Three hundred eager nonprofit folks gathered ready to hear the gospel of social media from some of the industry’s thought leaders like Beth Kanter, Craig Newmark (Craigslist) and Meg Garlinghouse of Linked In. We heard from nonprofits themselves and learned how they are “failing fast and failing forward” as they work to integrate social media into their community engagement plans.

I observed during the course of the day the effective and powerful platform social media is for all organizations, non-profits and for-profits alike; it also became clear that social media is not a proverbial “genie in the bottle.” It will not, by merely having a Facebook page or Twitter account, magically transform our organizations. Social media is simply a tool. A tool we can and should leverage to tell our stories to our communities as well as create opportunities to connect in circles where we do not find immediate allies. And it was this arena – connecting to the ‘not-so-like-minded’ people – that I recognized the potential for truly revolutionary actions, collaborations, and greater understanding.

The opportunity to generate new ideas and information comes from what sociologist Mark Granovetter has deemed the strength of weak ties or our connection to a friend of a friend, or a casual acquaintance. These weaker connections are in many cases the starting point for exposure to differing opinions, alternative thinking and unique resources. Some sociologists and cultural anthropologists even argue that cooperative connections with people from different walks of life are “more valuable than” bonding connections– a.k.a our friends and family. Social capital, is broadly defined “where people share a sense of identity, hold similar values, trust each other and reciprocally do things for each other (Rosalind Edwards).”

It was during the conference when I saw a tool on Linked In that I recognized the opportunity in my own life to potentially ‘bridge’ the different nodes of my network through the weak ties. The InMap from Linked In Labs reveals a visual map of every connection in your network (www.inmap.linkedinlabs.com). It offers insight into where your clusters and connections reside. The larger the dot, the more connected that person is with others in your network. In my map, the blue dots represent artists, entrepreneurs and somatic specialists. The orange dots represent all the people and associations I had while working at the City of Oakland. The green are connections in the technology and social media world. The tangential nodes are other interests, work experiences and connections.

So I started to ask myself: How might I bring the artists and entrepreneurs into connection with City of Oakland staff and officials? Where can I bridge civic visionaries with technology gurus? What role can I play in facilitating my non-profit connections with philanthropists and somatic teachers so that they can do their work with both healthy financial backing and healthy mind-body practices?

I am a dedicated student of social media’s lessons and even an evangelist of its benefits; and while it does not replace authentic face-to-face relationships, it can offer insight into how we can be expanding our capacity as ‘change makers’ or facilitators. Ultimately, the experiments we engage in on this level are dress rehearsals for the ‘real world’ at the grocery store, in the office and on the street. What role might you play in bridging the nodes of your network? I’m interested to hear…