Gridlock from the Social network

Originally, when I had a corporate position, I often wondered why we were pushing the use of all the social networks. It almost felt like we were trying to force 50 lbs of sausage into a 5 lb casing. I didn't get it and more important, I didn't get it because of the pressure being put on getting results and reaching the iconic corporate goal of...putting oneself out of a job by making it more efficient. But, it appears the blogging, networking, interacting, congealing of ideas and publication internally of successes in networking was actually working and needed and godlike. But, if you dig deeper, internal social networking, although recommended to learn how it works, actually was a detriment to reaching the goals you were measured by. So, you add a few more hours to your day, twitter on the way home, get pulled over for texting while driving by the PD, and try and find a good cheap lawyer with advice on Plaxo. But wait, what about work...real work...measured results work...the stuff you get paid for. Well, ok, you miss the mark, or as they say, you missed some major milestones and hence your performance is lacking and you will be resourced out due to lack of skills which you happened to have refined and honed and were acknowledged for but, they weren't measured in your plan. Ah ha, the plan. What is the social networking plan. How did we get gridlocked into all the social networks and the plethora of new social networks designed to be better than the current ones. So what am I getting to? What I am trying to surmise is that if we look at all the blogging, networking, things that can be outsourced, resourced, off-shored (unless your global then they never call it that) and balanced, you need to find what the tipping point is. An epiphany...one needs to find one or two critical networks which fit your industry. Gridlock does not occur on the social networking highway. That highway is organized and has a set of rules, regulations, guidelines and applications allowing it to work admirably. The gridlock occurs in your mind. Yes that's right, in your own mind and it happens quite easily. You see, with face to face discussion, or even when you pick up the phone to talk to someone, you are able to pick up the little nuances of inflection of voice. And if lucky enough, visual feedback from a face to face discussion where you are actually able to talk to them in person. In the net, you don't. Yes, I know you can reach out to scads of people in one fell swoop and will get some valid information and connections. We all know it works and is a really invaluable tool. But listen, you learn a lot from being dragged naked through a cactus patch by an angry mule too. Pick the right network. Make the right connection. Do the proper follow-up. Meet and talk to the right people, yeah, that's right talk to them. You see, it all boils down to the personal connection in the end. Not off shored, not dragged through cactus to learn, not off ramped into a unmeasured goal, but something with meaning. The gridlock exists in your mind.