Just how common is common sense?

I read this posting in the FT with great interest, and a little depression ("If granny would disapprove, don't put it on the net" by Rhymer Rigby).

I don't doubt that it makes a great deal of sense, what concerns me is that it apparently needs to be stated. Surely this is the lowest level of common sense? Don't we all know that we no longer control information or images once posted on the internet? Just who needs to be told about this stuff?

I would be concerned in any case if this article had been published in a tabloid - but this was in the FT, for goodness sake! "Campaign" lists the FT as the choice of the "business high flyers", so surely this demograph can be relied upon to have the common sense required to know not to post stupid comments or pictures anywhere remotely public. Perhaps this is one further piece of evidence for the reduction in the number of people willing to take personal responsibility (I enjoyed this take on responsibility).

On Facebook and Twitter - as in emails, telephone calls, letters and even faxes (yes - some people still send faxes) - we must all take responsibility for what we write and post. The best lesson I was ever given in this regard was to "imagine that anything you write anywhere might end up being read out in court". Good advice for all, I think.

PS - isn't Rhymer Rigby a great name! I'm really pleased he appears to be a real person and not a pseudonym.

Networking - Social, Virtual & Real

I've been thinking a lot about networking recently - if only because it has become such an important part of my life recently. Before I became self-employed, I worked either in organisations which did not need to do sales and marketing, or in firms with large marketing departments. I have realised that my own networking is probably the most important sales and marketing tool that I have available.

I have, therefore, been looking at the various alternatives. There are many books about "real" networking, and I can do little more that suggest that you find one of the many that you agree with and then get on with it. Being British, I have a natural dislike of professional networking, but have learnt to smile and get on with it.

Technology has brought us many more options. I am a member of LinkedIn and participate in forum discussions on that site. In general it seems as if it will be useful in the end, even if many members seem to use it for naked self-plugs rather than for sharing knowledge and information.

I've been looking at Twitter recently to see if I could find it's business potential. This story from the BBC demonstrates the dangers of getting it wrong. I can see what Habitiat were trying to do, but the story seems to demonstrate a company which is totally out of touch with the medium and the people who are likely to use it. Twitter may become a tool for large businesses - and, indeed, some of the cleverest ones may well be using it now without their use being too obvious - but at the moment it seems to me that it is essentially a personal social networking tool, and one appropriate for funky start-ups.

There are some specialist networking sites such as HubStreet which may be useful within their own specialisms, however I have yet to see any other technology for networking which will work in a business context. I look forward to hearing about others I have missed.