Recently, there was a story of a Michigan woman who felt the almighty power of the Internet…
Sarah Killen, 19, had three friends connected to her@Lovely Button Twitter name. At last count, she’s at about 20,000 followers and was scheduled to appear on CNN’s “Larry King Live”.
Conan O’ Brien, likely jonesing for some limelight, recently himself signed on to Twitter to see what it is all about.
So a few weeks back, he chose Killen and tweeted: “Sarah Killen, your life is about to change.” Killen, who plans to marry her 21year-old fiance, John Slowki Jr., in September, says that until O’ Brien and thousands of new friends entered her life, money was tight and the cost of her wedding was a serious concern.
Now, a handmade wedding dress, shoes, wedding bands, cases of wine from California, an Apple iMac and lots of other goodies are heading her way before the big day.
Venita Killen, Sarah’s mother, says her daughter is using her newfound fame to raise awareness and money for charities, including the Children’s Hunger Fund. The two also plan to walk together for breast cancer research during the 2010 Susan G. Komen Michigan 3-Day for the Cure in August.
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
Granted, it was Conan O’Brien (probably the biggest Google search for the past few months leading up to his demise on NBC) who gave this woman some great exposure, but going from 3 to 20,000 followers shows how powerful a social media like Twitter can be.
Twenty-thousand people took the time to log on to their own Twitter account or re-tweet Conan’s tweet and send the message around the web!
Consider this: How are YOU harnessing the Internet for your own social gain? If you are laid-off, are you using Twitter, LinkedIn and the like to help network?
Likewise, what groups have you joined on Facebook and LinkedIn to help you with your job search?
Sure, you yourself likely aren’t going from 3 to 20,000 contacts on Twitter (unless you know maybe Dave Letterman, Craig Ferguson or the like?). But you certainly can use Twitter to ask for help and go from 3 to 30 or more in short time.
USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO KEEP EVERYONE UP-TO-DATE
There is nothing wrong with using your account to keep friends, family, people in the same boat as you, and complete strangers, up-to-date on your job search. “Had a great phone interview with XYZ company today – felt I really nailed it” is a great way to keep people up-to-date. You certainly don’t want to tweet “I NEED A JOB. HELP ME NOW!”. You yourself are responsible for your destiny (or if you pay money for a job search firm or headhunter, then they are sort of responsible).
IT’S UP TO YOU TO REACH OUT IF YOU NEED HELP!
But, you need to harness social media for your networking opportunities. Even if you are working, you still need to be reaching out.
I recently got a facebook message from a woman I went to school with back many moons ago. She asked me “what is the best way to use Twitter and FB for community outreach? Have a Twitter account but never really use it. Feeling overloaded by all this technology.”
That is a great example of using technology to learn more about how to network! Yes, she is feeling overloaded which is fine, but she wants to use social media for community outreach! A great first step and I’ll reach out to her shortly to get her on her way!
So, let me know how you are harnessing the internet for your own networking opportunities! Let’s go out there and do something good!
How I See A New Media World 