Are you a meerkat, an ostrich or a beaver?

look around!

Last week in Wellington I realised something about the people I meet at conferences. There are three kinds of people, those who can count, and those who can't. Hang on, that's a different joke...

No, when it comes to social media - or change generally - there are roughly three kinds of people:

1. Meerkats - overwhelmed but aware of the need to look around and see what's new. A lot of observing, not a lot of action.
2. Ostriches - convinced that what is currently happening is mostly bad, and a passing phase. Their attitude is - let me know when everything's back to normal. Meantime, I'm getting on with some important stuff!
3. Beavers - these are the ones who've discovered a tool that intrigues them, and relates to what they do. They're busy, building. Don't think of building websites, I mean building community. They're getting on with it.

That last point brings up a big question people ask - what if we invest a lot of attention and time into, say, Facebook, and then it's no longer flavour of the month next week?

It's a very real danger, which is why you should be focused on building community across as many social networks as you need to. It's not about the technology, it's about the people.

That's it for now. A more detailed post to come on the iJump blog.