Mobile Social Networking Tips

In the past few months, I've reconnected with friends from kindergarten through college and beyond. I've discovered thought-provoking online articles and videos I probably wouldn't have found on my own. I've also read meaningless updates from friends, such as "I'm getting in the hot tub," or "just received a special gift from a special friend." And I've done it all through Facebook--the social networking phenomenon where Top Five lists reign, long-lost friends are reunited, and, inevitably, countless hours are consumed.

Don't misunderstand. I love Facebook, Twitter (you can follow my tweets), LinkedIn, and other social networking tools. And it's cool that you can post updates, pictures, and even videos to your social media networks from your mobile phone or smart phone.

Still, this whole social networking thing can get unruly if you're not careful. Here, then, are three tips for managing your social networking, and getting the most from social media tools--especially when you're on the go.

1. Twitter When You Travel

You're on a plane, and you're hungry. For whatever reason, the flight attendants have overlooked your meal, and now you're frustrated. What do you do? You tweet about it. Someone from the airline sees your tweet and sends a message to the pilot. The pilot tells a flight attendant that the passenger in seat 3B (or whatever) hasn't been served and is tweeting about it. And within a few minutes, your meal arrives.

Believe it or not, this scenario actually occurred aboard a Virgin America flight, according to Porter Gale, the airline's vice president of marketing. Gale relayed the incident at a recent Twitter conference in San Francisco. (Virgin America's entire fleet is equipped with Wi-Fi networking, which is how the passenger was able to tweet about the missing meal.)

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