Thursday, September 04, 2008

Finding People Who Are Alike And Different


Moving Networks to Action is all about finding others who are interested in the same thing you are. But if you are going to be transformative you also need to be interacting with people who have different perspectives and access to different resources than you.

So, how do you find people with common interests who are also different in important ways? This is where I'm convinced Twitter is revolutionary. Twitter Search enables you to put in a word or words that describe your interest. Here you can see we have entered the word Foodshed.



This produces a list of names of people who have Twittered about foodsheds. You can check each one out, click on any that you want to Follow, and Twitter them to start a conversation. But particularly look for those who have different perspectives and stretch your mind. I found a person who linked to this cool Canadian map -- a new resource!

As a Network Weaver, you can help people in your networks use Twitter to find people with very specific mutual interests. Have them brainstorm a list of words and phrases that represent their current passion, and then steer them to Twitter Search.

June

UPDATE: Very practical advice June! Imagine how Twitter would work @ ACEnet -- if you can't make it to the 4 big food networking hubs in town -- Village Bakery, Kitchen Incubator, Big Chimney or Farmer's Market, just log in to Twitter [via mobile phone, if you have SMS/texting] and you have awareness of the conversations that are happening @ the hubs! Twitter provides constant ambient awareness!

Your post above is the perfect example of why I say...

Connect on your similarities and profit from your differences!

P.S. When June, Jack and I get together F2F we have many a-ha moments and often riff off of each other's ideas [we are also similar, yet different]. Hopefully, we can share some of that dynamic here through interactive posts like the one above.

Valdis

3 comments:

Edward Vielmetti said...

thanks Valdis -

Twitter Search is a good counterpart if you are traveling too - plug in the name of the city you are in or are going to and see what comes out. (And what comes out as search results is people, not web pages, which makes an interesting difference in perspective.)

June Holley said...

Thanks for the interesting idea! I've already connected with someone on Twitter who I'll stop and see on my next trip to Seattle.

The Harmoniker Team said...

Hi,
I came across your quote "Connect on your similarities and profit from your differences!". It's exactly what we're doing at harmoniker.com. People are really responding to that approach.
Thanks for the quote ;-). I won't use it directly of course but it's given me even more inspiration!