Editor’s Notebook

The New Networking

I first learned about social networking sites from my daughter, back when she was in high school, about five or six years ago. When she was a sophomore, these sites became "the thing to do" among kids her age. Believe it or not, it was before Facebook was open to high school kids and hardly anyone had heard of it yet.

It is an efficient way to keep the connections between colleagues, former and current, far and near, alive.

But the wave of social networking sites had started. First we saw something called Xanga on the computer. It was a site where kids were going to talk about music and themselves. As cautious parents of a teen girl worried about Internet predators, we banned her from Xanga. A lot of good that did! Next we saw a site called MySpace. MySpace dominated the scene for about six months. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, it dropped off the high school scene in our area as quickly as it arrived. We were temporarily relieved, because it seemed as though we weren’t going to have to ban another site. But then came Facebook.

Facebook was the reason the kids weren’t using MySpace anymore. It might have been the forbidden fruit theory. Facebook had previously only been available to those in college. So as soon as that site expanded to allow high schoolers on, the kids dropped MySpace like a hot potato. By then, we were somewhat more comfortable with the whole idea of kids networking on the Internet and Facebook became a fixture in our daughter’s life and the life of most kids today. It is the way most high school and college kids communicate, along with instant messaging and texting.

That progression happened quickly, in the last four years. Facebook was started by Mark Zuckerburg in 2004 when he was a student at Harvard. In 2005 it was opened to high school students and now it is open to anyone 13 or older. Some estimates put the users of Facebook in the range of 100 million or more.

The next progression impacted professionals. There are now networking sites for professionals. LinkedIn and Naymz are two. I remember receiving the first e-mail invitation from someone to join their network on LinkedIn. I was a little taken aback. I hadn’t heard of that site when I got that e-mail, not to mention that I didn’t have a profile there. But, never one to shy away from technology, I joined up. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t consider myself a lemming, following along with the crowd. I am not a "joiner" and I know many in the aviation maintenance industry aren’t either. That is clearly evidenced by the difficult time professional associations targeted at the maintenance industry have experienced in finding and keeping members.

However, I do consider myself cautious and curious when it comes to employment, professional advancement, and staying up to date with what is going on in aviation and the professional world. I think everyone needs to be on top of the latest happenings in their industry and also in the professional world at large. This is simple insurance for job security and job searching if it becomes necessary. I do believe that the more people you know, the wider you can cast your net and the more opportunities you will have should you find yourself out of work and looking for another job. A wise person once told me that if I was experiencing a problem and having difficulty coming up with a solution, that the best thing to do is to tell as many people as possible about it because you never know where the solution may come from.

In this industry, I have seen (and I’m sure all of you have seen), highly qualified, excellent employees lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Layoffs, Chapter 11, downsizing, a new boss, or any number of other reasons can leave a great employee without a job. That is one way I see these networking sites coming in handy. It is an efficient way to keep the connections between colleagues, former and current, far and near, alive.

To that end, our company has created a business-oriented social networking site, Aviation Professionals Network, specifically for the aviation industry and we invite you to sign up at www.avpronet.com. Think of it as a free insurance policy. Even if you don’t have a MySpace account, a Facebook page or any other such thing, please consider becoming part of this network. It is easy to create a page with your profile, information and photo and to connect with others. Plus, it’s new and you will be in on the ground floor. Sort of like those first Facebook users at Harvard. It could lead you to a new business associate, a new client, the solution to a problem or a new job. I definitely see the potential and hope you will too.