There are millions of people using social networking sites every single day across the entire world. People from all over the globe are making meaningful and deep connections with one another, and are truly becoming very good friends on social networking sites.
However, there are also another group of people who seem to believe that a mile-long list of friends is some sort of status symbol - so they send out mass requests to other members to become their friends.
This is not the right way to build a solid friend list. All you will end up with is a list of strangers who've clicked on a link once and have never bothered with you again.
What is a Friends List?
A friends list is a list of other profiles on the social networking website who have allowed you to link your main profile page to theirs, and they will link to yours. In most cases, that is the extent of the friends list - a sharing of links between strangers. However, the kind of list that you actually want to build is one built from the people who share the same interests as you and have found their way to your main page.
A valuable friends list is one that consists of other people on the social networking website (or outside of it) who share the same interests that you do. They research the same topics on the internet, or they share the same passion in sports, animals, or the environment as you do. A true group of friends on a social networking site are individuals who have come together and share a common cause or belief system - and in networking with one another, this group can use the power of numbers to accomplish more than they could ever have accomplished on their own.
Why do I need a Friends List?
A friends list on a social networking site can be an extremely powerful and useful tool. Such a list of friends can provide insight, information, and advice in your pursuit of your own interests and passions.
For example, vintage Lionel toy train collectors could create an online community of friends where they could share some of the joy of their latest estate sale discoveries. They could collaborate together and sell or exchange items from their collections. They could even notify each other when there is a very large event going on in a region of the country or the world related to their common hobby. Existing communities like this already exist - one example is cs.trains.com or www.railroad.net.
Another example is the tremendous advantage researchers such as journalists, private investigators, or even law enforcement detectives would gain from such a social network.
With a long and comprehensive "friends list" of reporters and investigators - researchers can collaborate together on a very large world-wide scale. This kind of social networking collaboration over the internet is becoming more and more popular as investigators and journalists start to recognize the tremendous advantage that social networking websites offer to their professional work.
The list of advantages to having a good, valuable friends list consisting of folks who share your private and professional interests is substantial. The benefits of such a worldwide contact list can be realized in absolutely every profession and in ways that are limited only by imagination. Artists, doctors, scientists, teachers, and many other professions could benefit greatly through using such a comprehensive contact list on social networking websites.
How can I build a valuable Friends List?
No matter what your interest, hobby, or profession - the one key to building a valuable friends list is to develop friends in much the same way you would make friends in real life.
While this may seem like an odd approach to take online, since you can't actually meet people - it is the only approach that will help you to develop a valuable and long-lasting list of contacts who will not only link to your page, but will also remain in contact with you and will become a valuable source for exchanging information and ideas for years to come.
They 2 most important things you do today to build this kind of friends list is as follows:
1. Take part in forum discussions related to your interest or profession.
Online forums allow users to log on and hold a fast-paced discussion with other members in a series of posts that are published in order within a "thread". A thread is simply a topic of discussion which forum members can post their comments to in reply to the conversation.
Forums are a fantastic place, not only to build a reputation as a knowledgeable expert in your field of interest, but also as a place to meet people who share the same interests and passions as you do.
Hold a few conversations in these threads and spend a few weeks getting to know them. Take part in some of the fascinating conversations that interest you, and develop a good repertoire with the membership of the forum. After about a month or so, when you've developed a few good relationships on these forums, send these new friends a PM (a private message on the messaging system that most forums feature), asking them to visit your profile page on your social networking webpage and ask them to sign up there as your friend.
In this case - you will be asking a person who by this point knows you fairly well from the discussions you've already had on the forum. They will be a legitimate "friend", and they will become a very valued member of the new community of friends that you are forming. In time, just from using forums alone, your list of friends on the social networking page will grow exponentially.
2. Start a Blog.
Another great method to attract friends online is to start a blog on the topic of your interest. If your blog is updated every day or every other day, it will make it fairly high in the search engine ratings. And since the content of your blog will get returned in search engine searches for keywords related to your interests - your blog will attract people who share your interests.
The two ways to draw these friends to your social networking page are to make sure many of your blog entries offer links to your profile page. Secondly, whenever comments are made to your blog - always reply, and provide a link to your social networking page, suggesting that they sign up as a friend.
If you do only these two things, starting a blog, and joining as many forums as there are out there covering your interests, you will quickly realize a stream of valuable and long-term friends signing up at your social networking webpage. In the course of pursuing your personal and professional interests, these many friends will prove to be a very valuable asset.
Source : www.makeasocialnetwork.com
