One of the prevailing cultural norms guiding the social media ecosystem, the idea of being a good social media neighbor encompasses the notions of promoting others … sharing valuable content … providing answers and resources. A simple way to do this? Sharing links, whether that’s tweeting to a blog post or linking to articles and resources from your own blog.
Connecting Knowledge and People
None of this is new, but I started thinking about this topic after watching this video with NYU professor Jay Rosen, who explains why linking to content is such an important element of the social web. In his own words, “That’s how we connect knowledge to people.”
As Jay points out, the newspaper industry jumped into the online world without embracing this basic rule of the web. The industry’s refusal to help people gain knowledge from other sources is just one of example of the old-guard media not understanding the power of the web.
Showing “link love” is one of the simplest things we can do to contribute to the online community. As you watch this video, think about what other gestures can show our good neighborly intentions. Feel free to leave your ideas in the comments.