Great discussion topic. I’m receiving your daily feed and really enjoy your public journals. These latest submissions about Social Networking have really caught my interest. And I’d love to share some feedback about my own personal experience. BTW, this is simply a brain dump. I’m really not sure that I have decided what these new dimensions of relationships really mean to me. The verdict is still out.

Have I been eating the same cheese for too long? I feel like I am relearning what friendship means and its new meaning seems to be directly proportionate to the leverage I have within my professional life. Today, in a world of fast-tech information sharing, friend has transformed into a digital stream of composed imagery that is portrayed via electronic imprints. Meaning, I can “create” an impression of my existence by simply deciding who I “connect” with and how I deliver my presence within online relationships. Also, these friendships seemed to be loosely bound and can be reversed by “dropping a connection” with a friend. Friends can be turned off just as quickly as they are turned on. For me, this truly redefines the word friend.

I recently reentered Recruiting after taking several years to explore other interests in technology. I came back carrying all the baggage I left with 4 years ago. I say baggage, but I should really call it garbage. Why? Because the landscape had completely reshaped itself and I was hanging on to the behaviors of the early turn of the 21st century. My strengths in recruiting had become my greatest weaknesses. The world had definitely moved on and I needed to open up my eyes to the new economy.

News Flash (for me) – Cold calling (sourcing) over the phone is out. Casual and professional networking with “friends” is in. Social software will define my “rolodex” as time goes on.

So now, I’ve stopped saying, “Building relationships one candidate at a time”. And now I’m saying, “Building relationships one network at a time”. My recruiting pipeline is no longer about “who is interviewing right now”. I now define my recruiting pipeline by my exposure level within all the social media outlets. So my recruiting report to my CEO would be something like: FaceBook 18 Connections, LinkedIn 257 Connections, Ryze 45 Connections, etc…. I’m kidding, but only for the moment. I predict that in the near future this type of exposure within social networks will be a gage of whether or not I am a credible resource for candidates. And whether or not I eat Macaroni & Cheese or Prime Rib in five years from now

Yes John, “friend” is a word with a new definition. And from the research I’ve done, this redefining of relationships is an epidemic. It has made its way into virtually all walks of life.

You’re not alone. My “friends” and I are all experiencing the same changes

~ Jesse