Social media connects people, enhances their lives with interaction never before possible. People can learn, act, gain rewards, and be together. It is a powerful marketing mechanism that can create a myriad of monetizing opportunities on the web.
There are venues for virtually any community, each with additional connections to help people find opportunities and solutions.
There is great value in connecting people to share information. However, it is unrealistic to consider it a viable way to bring people together and create true friendships. Anything between the people, be it pen and paper, a telephone, an email or a web site dilutes its value. The greater the complexity and distance, the weaker the connection.
Don’t sell out by participating in sites that reward you for posting, commenting, rating, sharing content. The people that create those sites are usually not striving to help you help others, they want to make money. They watch what you do, they sell your profile data (location, age, gender, interests, email address) to advertising subscribers and bombard you with ads to draw you further into the electronic abyss.
To make new friends, look around you. Get out of your chair and walk out the door. Talk to people, even those you don’t know. Call the people you do know, on the phone or meet them in person.