Aaron Brazell is talking about it in "Friends vs Fans" and Jared Goralnick talks about it in "Avoiding the online popularity contest to seek a deeper connection".

It all boils down to:  What is a friend?

There are some people on social networks that seem to add everyone and anyone they have ever, will ever, or ever want to meet.  This gives the massive networks of people whom they don't know at all or know in passing.  This seems to be the most common on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Personally, I approach it a bit differently...

Tired of all the big conferences been 2000+ miles and a five hour flight away? Tired of hearing about all the latest toys after the fact and saying "I wish I came up with hat!" Well, no more...

Charting the Next Course

Yes, it's in Baltimore, Maryland. Yes, it's in 11 days. Yes, it's free. Yes, it's about figuring out and conjecturizing about where the web is going.

Yes, Facebook Apps can be useful...

Yes, Social Media is interesting...

Yes, mobile is starting to gain momentum...

But what is happening tomorrow? Where are things going? How will they get there?

This is a recap of PodCampDC 2008 which happened on 19 April 2008. If you're disappointed you missed it... well, keep an eye out for the next one! ;) You can check out some of the PodCampDC pictures on Flickr.

Due to an exhausting couple of weeks, I chose to sleep in and miss the opening keynote.

The first session was Jessie Newburn's talk on "Generations and Social Media". I've met and spoken with Jessie a number of times over the past couple months, but this was the first opportunity to really hear some of the guts and details of the generational differences, priorities, patterns, etc.

If you got to this article via Twitter or happen to be connected to me via twitter, hear me out hitting "send".

Good question... I asked myself that for quite a bit of last year. Twitter seemed like what blogging was in the early days. A running inner monologue detailing the silliest thoughts, concerns, and non-sequitors... trivial, stupid stuff that no one would listen to. I teased/openly mocked a couple colleagues on it, specifically David All and Aaron Brazell. ;)

Well, I was right.

...but still horribly wrong.

It seems like this question is being kicked around more and more lately. If you're active online at all, you've seen people talk about it. If you've been to any web conferences, you've heard people talk about it. If you're in any type of social media, you've caught everything you might want to know. It seems like every group, organization, and everyone who dreams of social media success is asking...

So... is Facebook good for your business?

Probably not.

Not the answer you expected huh? You thought that as a PHP developer active in the space, a connector who's happily introducing friends and colleagues, and someone who's neck deep in social media would say the exact opposite.... well, not quite.

There are many scenarios and business for which a Facebook Application just doesn't make sense. For example, if you run a neighborhood bar with a group of local regulars, having a one doesn't make much sense. If you run a basic news site or blog, syndicating your content to Facebook doesn't require your own app. Don't waste your time.

Unless you're in the DC Social Media scene, you might have missed the kickoff of the new podcast radio show: District of Corruption hosted by Geoff Livingston and my colleage and occasional mutual provoker Aaron Brazell.

Every Tuesday at 4pm EST, Aaron and Geoff take 30 minutes to hit some of the major social media topics for the week, poke at some of the more annoying players out there, and take feedback and comments from their callers. While they claim a focus on the DC Metro, they tend to hit the core principles and use local organizations as their examples. Whether you're a DC local or not, if you're interested in Social Media, you'll find something of interest.

While the first episode was a little rough and disorganized, the second episode started to show some of the polish and flow I've learned to expect from these two. This week (22 January) will be their third episode and I expect it to be even better as they figure things out and have fun with it.