For those of you who are concerned with the possibility of raising your own Social Capital, it’s pretty simple, really. There are three major ways to do it and they all intersect:
- Be Nice
- Be Notable
- Be Networked
The Spread Love Project is firmly rooted in the first, Be Nice, because in the world of community, nice guys (and gals) DO finish first. That backstabbing crookery that sometimes happens when trying to raise financial capital (see the song: Money, by the O’Jays for examples ;) ) works antithetically to community building and the raising of social capital.
Being Nice just means that you act positively towards others. Some ways you can be nice are:
- Help someone out when they need it
- Make someone feel good about themselves
- Use some of your social capital (wisely) to help someone else raise their own
- Donate your time, money and/or expertise to a community project
- Listen to others
- Let others lead
Being nice doesn’t mean that you have to be a patsy, though. You can be strong and opinionated and nice all at once. In fact, don’t mistake being nice for letting others take advantage of you. Recognizing where someone crosses the line between being a recipient of your kindness and being an energy sucker is mondo important.
Being Notable means that you create something that enhances peoples lives in a significant way. You may be a music composer writing melodies that help people fall in love or a person who designs small gadgets to stop those irritating little things from happening in our lives, thus relieving stress. Either way and every way in between, you are doing something that is notable.
When people introduce you at a party, they say, “This is so and so, you know [that cool thing you invented]? She invented it!”
Zing! INSTANT social capital!
It’s what people are looking for when they ask you, “So, where do you work?” or “What clients have you worked with?” when they first meet you. If you give them something they can recognize as being significant, it raises their idea of who you are. Of course, much of this is superficial and in order to continue to gain social capital from these exchanges, you must continue to produce stuff that makes people happy, but doing notable things is a great way to build social capital.
Being Networked is strongly connected to the first two and especially being nice. Being networked means that you know and are connected to many people - mostly through loose connections. According to SC theorists, bridging capital, or the lightweight, looser connections are actually stronger for raising social capital whereas bonding capital, or the deeply bonded connections you have are better for maintaining social capital.
Of course, the only way to build positive bridges with people is through being nice or being notable, so without #1 or #2 accompanying #3, it’s much harder to raise social capital through networking.
Networking can happen on or offline and I’ve met many people through the variety of online social networks I’m part of. Most of the time I don’t pay much attention to someone who has sent me a friend request somewhere, but if they send me a note to frame their request and it makes sense, I will connect with them. The beauty of social networks like Twitter or Flickr is that by being ‘friends’ or contacts, I get to know the person through the content they create. Through Twitter, a person’s regular updates will give me a sense of what they are doing and what they are working on, which may lead to some sort of overlap with projects I’m working on, or could also lead to my understanding of how to further connect that person to others they may have projects in common with. Through Flickr, I will see the world through the eyes of my new contact, which also could lead to me understanding and connecting through their point of view. Perhaps my new contact is a brilliant photographer. Then I will bond with them over their notability, or their ability to move me through their art form.
There is still nothing like offline networking, though, to build those bridging ties. Meetups with people who share your interests, reading groups, professional networking events and volunteering are just some of the ways you can meet and build bonds with people in person. I know one of my biggest downfalls is collecting someone’s information (on business card, etc.) and forgetting why later on. Using a program like Highrise helps keep people you meet straight. I also try to make a point of adding them on Twitter or Facebook shortly after we meet so I can build context around our meeting.
On a personal and a professional level, if you are looking to build social capital in order to be more influential (one of the benefits of having social capital) and be connected to various opportunities (maybe getting that dream job or meeting the woman/man of your dreams), being nice, notable and/or networked will help you achieve this.
Popularity: 87% [?]
