Blogs > Mark Wallace's - The UnCommon Denominator

Who Doesn't Like to Be Recognized

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:08:00 +0000

Entry

In a world where things move awfully fast, we very rarely have the opportunity, or find time, to reflect on the past and recognize people for doing a terrific job.

Tonight, I had the opportunity to think back on how far commonground has come in a very short period of time as we were recognized for a Business Achievement Award by Grant Ferrier and the Environmental Business Journal at their annual Summit in San Diego. There was a very nice ceremony where many environmental and commercial real estate pioneers received accolades for their efforts during a turbulent 2009 for our marketplace. Last year, we collectively won a Project Merit Award. To me, it meant that your social network has gone from being considered a notable new project to keep an eye on, to being a valuable destination where members of our industry can go to learn, network, and generate business.

During the ceremony, Grant indicated that we had done a great job with social networking - something that we all hear more about each day and can't ignore.

To that end, I wanted to write this post to let you know that I am humbled to accept the award on behalf of you – our 5,700 + members. After all, you have written nearly 1,000 blogs, added nearly 7,000 discussions posts and subsequent comments, and collectively contributed to making commonground the premier social network for environmental and commercial real estate professionals.

So, to that end, I would like to tip my hat to you – the members, advisors, contributors, and cg member support team that made this award, and our recent Groundswell Award , possible. If our T&E budget were big or even existed, we would have flown all of you to San Diego to accept the award with us!

We look forward to the next year and to continuing to provide value to our current and future members.

Again, thank you - and congratulations.

Mark

Keywords

Environmental Business Journal, Business Achievement, Environmental Consulting, Commercial Real Estate, Groundswell, Grant Ferrier

Time To Admit It

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:27:24 +0000

Entry by Mark Wallace

Entry

The past two months have given me a completely new perspective on the past and future. I won't bore you with too many of the details. Let's just say that I have been forced to reflect a bit more than I normally would.

In my role as VP of Social Media for commonground, I need to balance time between staying on top of what is cutting edge and mainstream best practices, without losing track of goals. I enjoy spending time with environmental and property professionals, executives, coworkers, business partners, friends and family discussing the evolution of how we do both our professional and personal business.

Recently, I have spent a lot of time with a number of individuals in their late 70's and 80's, including family members, on the same topic. It seems like their collective frustrations can be bucketed into three categories - technology, the younger generation, and finances/healthcare costs. They ask questions such as:

Why is everything technology, technology, technology?
How come kids these days never put down their cell phones?
Why does the younger generation think they are so entitled?
How much did you pay for that?
Why would you buy a new one, your old one is not that old?
Why can't I talk with someone on the phone instead of one of those computer agents?

Do some of these sound familiar? Those of you who know me are well aware that I am never afraid to throw my $.02 into a conversation at the appropriate time. This one was different. I was the youngest person by a good 40 years and one that has spent a lot of time studying the evolution of the generations. So, the conversation about the above went on for a good 10 minutes and I was quiet. Then, I could not help myself anymore and just spoke my true feelings concerning the topic.

The reason why everything is powered by technology, we all live on our cell phones, and money is often wasted on what might be deemed "unnecessary purchases" is.......you.

You should have seen the faces as I began to explain why.... Let it be known that I did not win any popularity contests with my answers, but I believe them to be true.

As a parent, you encouraged us to get the best possible education and manage our time so that we could find a good job. You told us we had to learn about computers as "they are going to be the future". You told us we had to, like it or not, in order to have the best chance at being successful. You were the ones, our mentors, who encouraged innovation, effort, and teamwork. You experimented with new things (insert things here) and organized Woodstock. You invented game changing things like powered windows in cars vs. cranks, call waiting, handheld mobile devices, computers that could automate just about anything, and the world wide web. You introduced us to TV, video games, and remote controls. You taught us to use the microwave because it was faster. You brought us to McDonald's because it was easier when things were hectic. You taught us that if we truly believed in something to go after it and you would support us (even if we got in a bit of trouble). You also told us that in order to get rich, you needed to invent something. Whether we want to admit it or not, our culture has collectively embraced the things you taught us. And, what you taught us was right. Technology has become a way to maximize business and personal efficiency - efficiency that is required in order to keep up. And because we have to keep up, the younger generation may seem like it is not paying attention. I would argue that more times than not, they are multi-tasking.

Then, I politely closed with this comment - before we spend too much being negative about how things are today and will be moving forward, I encourage you to look in the mirror because you are as much to blame as I am. You may not agree with my opinion. However, I just thought it was important to openly and respectfully share my feelings on the subject, which of course is another thing you taught us to do.

Some of you may perhaps read Lauren Rosencranz's Blog titled Fresh in the Field. If you don't, I would encourage you to check it out as she often addresses topics like this and the changing business landscape.

Even though my blog post has nothing to do with Phase I ESA's, Contamination, or REC's, sometimes we need to think through why things are the way they are and accept responsibility for our actions both now and in the future. Wouldn't you agree?

Just something to think about...... the next time you look up from checking your blackberry, while at Starbucks -- to see if the line has moved yet.

Keywords

Generation Why, Changing Workforce, Business evolution, commonground

My How Things Have Changed! (4 Comments)

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:20:32 +0000

Entry by Mark Wallace

Entry

I was recently asked if I would be willing to speak at my old college Alma Mater, Bentley University, by a gentleman I got to know via Twitter who I found out is Bruce Weinberg, the Chair of the Bentley University Marketing Department. The presentation was not about commercial real estate or environmental business best practices; it was about Social Media, Web 3.0, and building a personal brand. Even though my schedule was and is completely overloaded, I decided to make time for this opportunity for a number of reasons, but one in particular that I am a big believer in - reverse mentoring. I have included a link to an article titled Moving Forward with Reverse Mentoring that does a good job explaining how many companies and universities are using it. To me, it is an extremely important as a business professional to keep up with and ahead of new trends.

When I walked in, the assignments were being passed out and they included setting up a LinkedIn profile as well as setting up a Twitter account to name a few. As you might imagine, all of the students were using Facebook. In fact, that was the way that just about everyone communicated with friends, fellow students, and family. And for the majority of them, it is their method of communication - not email. They were told their personal brand on the web was not a requirement to land their dream job, but it would be extremely helpful and could be the difference when going up against another candidate given the importance of social influence and networking in today's business world where everyone lives on the web. The group was very engaged and excited to learn about how companies were effectively using social media and the web to move their business forward.

As I reflected after visiting the class, one thing became very clear. Whereas we, as hiring agents, managers, and business owners can learn about the new talent we are considering as employees by using the web, they have access to pre-screen us in ways that we never had to deal with when we were their age. We had to put together a resume with some references and went out on interviews. In hindsight, we probably had it easy.

However, students now have access to information - things that I think you would agree would have been of value if you ever had a job you regretted taking or didn't like the boss. I know, that has probably never happened, right? Any new hire can now look us up, check out our web profiles, social networks and affiliations, experiences, and interests prior to taking a job working for us. They can also check our company's online reputation. Have you thought about that as part of your hiring processes?

And, since students have lived in social networks for years by the time they graduate, I think it is a pretty safe assumption that they will be turned off working with peers, employers, and boss who do not participate or believe in them. If we have no social presence and are perceived as old school, it will dramatically impact our ability to attract the next generation of talent, whether you are an environmental professional, lender, attorney - profession does not matter.

We will serve as valuable mentors in the development of a young professional entering the workforce. And, they will in turn, help mentor us. Good business is a win-win.

Business and hiring has evolved to the web in many ways. Have you?

Keywords

commonground, reverse mentoring, social media, environmental, professionals, Bentley

My Last Blog....

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:44:19 +0000

Entry by Mark Wallace

Entry

Can you believe it? 2010. When is the last time you have reflected on the fact that 10 years or 3,650 days, have flown by since the millennium? To me, it is awfully hard to fathom as I write my last blog of 2009. Do you ever find yourself saying "If only we could just roll back the clock"?

10 years ago today, I was working for a conference company where we ran many conferences and expositions on then emerging technologies such as Y2K, the Internet, Sales Force Automation, and one that had a very short shelf life at the time, B2B. Specifically, our Y2K conference reached new heights in popularity in '99. We made millions of dollars by facilitating events that educated IT professionals on how they needed to prepare to ensure that computers, systems, and networks all over the globe were Y2K compliant and their companies had contingency plans in the event of a disaster. On the eve of the millennium, I stood outside Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas at 11:59, kissed my wife, and said let's hope to god the only thing that goes off in a minute are fireworks. And that is what happened, believe it or not, 10 years ago. Y2K was over.

For most of us, we went into the millennium on a high. The economy was in a great place. Optimism was strong. All kind of new technologies were reshaping business. Commercial real estate was booming. In hindsight, things were pretty darned good.

To say things have changed is an understatement. Recently, the word optimistic is often the trailer behind the words "I am trying to remain". Many of us could chalk this year up as one of the more challenging years in our lives. And, there seems to be a whole new wave of technology coming through that we now need to try to figure out in a spare time such as web2.0, cloud computing, virtual desktops, and social media. Ways of doing business that we may have embraced 10 years ago have evolved, and that means we need to find time to evolve too.

As Alexander Graham Bell said, "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success." There is no better time to start preparing ourselves and our companies for the next 10 years than January 1^st. If you don't yet have one or more New Year's business resolutions, perhaps these suggestions might be helpful:

Budget 30 minutes a day during, before, or after hours educating yourself on what market leading companies are doing well today
Set up an RSS feed for news and content that is relevant for your industry
Spend time learning and experimenting with social media technology and tactics
Upgrade your cell phone to a PDA whether you want to or not- the world will be more mobile everyday and iPhones, Android, and Blackberry's are a requirement moving forward
Throw away, or file away, all old paperwork, magazines, and stuff, you no longer use
Clean out your inbox and organize or delete old emails
Attend some face to face events in addition to online events. There is no replacement for the focused networking time and learning when you do not have the office distractions.

These are pretty basic suggestions, but sometimes we need to go back to basics. Business will come back at some point. Here's to making sure we are prepared to handle it in the most efficient and impactful way when it does.

Season's Greetings and best wishes for a successful 2010!

Keywords

CRE Y2K Millenium commonground PDA iPhone Android Blackberry

When You Least Expect It... (8 Comments)

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:53:47 +0000

Entry by Mark Wallace

Entry

This past Sunday morning, I had to get up at 5:00 AM and drive in the snow to a seminar. It was not your everyday business seminar which I attend frequently. It was a USA Hockey Certification and Coaching Seminar. As you might imagine, not many of us were thrilled to be there on a Sunday or frankly any other day.

About six hours later, when I left, I felt like I really got a lot out of it and that I could do a better job helping and guiding the kids. In addition, I was pleasantly surprised about the business value that I got out of the session as I had the opportunity to think about the things we generally do not consider unless we have some dedicated time to focus.

There were 7 points made about coaching beginners that I believe business professionals in commercial real estate, can use to help ourselves, our employees, and our companies. Here they are:

1) You might be the first business person a new hire has ever worked with - remember that you have an important job to do. You just might be the leader that shapes their understanding of how business works (and they will be working way longer than they will be playing a sport).

2) When you stop learning new things-you stop leading

3) There are 8 principles of effective communication - always keep them in mind

- Be Enthusiastic
- Be Positive
- Be demanding but considerate
- Be consistent
- Respect individual differences
- Give equal time to all (without distraction)
- Openly communicate
- Be patient

4) Don't focus on coaching by telling them "what not to do to correct it, instead focus on "what you would like them to do" to get the right results. If you focus on the negative, then that is what the employee will think about (not screwing up) instead of the desired end result (finishing a project on time).

5) Avoid lengthy, complicated instructions - 3 things maximum at one time (for those of you who know me, you know this one is near and dear to me)

6) What you see is what you coached. Look in the mirror if you don't like the results

7) Fundamental abilities are the natural result of repetition.

There are academic viewpoints that state that to truly become an expert in something; it requires 10,000 hours which in many cases translates to 3 hrs a day for nearly 10 years.

There are a lot of experts out there who have involved in CRE, Phase I's, and environmental due diligence that meet this criteria or come real close. If you are in a leadership position, I would just like to pass along the reminder I just received. Make sure that you share your knowledge and wisdom to ensure the next generation of professionals continues to move the market forward.

I suspect you might be pleasantly surprised at what you will learn from them, how appreciative they are for your time, and what you get out of it both personally and professionally.

Keywords

commercial real estate, leadership, Phase I, Environmental Professionals, Coaching, Mentoring,

One Month Left - What Do You Plan To Do? (2 Comments)

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:07:57 +0000

Entry by Mark Wallace

Entry

One month. That's it. One month left before we raise glasses together and toast the New Year. Perhaps we will wish for happiness, health, and peace. Perhaps we will wish for business success or simply job security. Perhaps we will wish that life may get easier this year as the past few have been a challenge for the majority of us. Perhaps we will hope for some combination of all of the above.

If you are like me, you are already pondering your New Year's Resolution(s). I typically have two - a personal one and a business one. Personally, I am going to work on my health by dropping at least 20 pounds by getting back to working out and eating better.

My business resolutions do not change from year to year. I pick three new things I am going to force myself to find time to do, or learn. For 2010. I am still working on exactly what they are as it is important for me to stay ahead or at least current with trends. Yes, it has a lot to do with my role, but at a young age raised by older parents, I never really was all that advanced in using technology. Friends and past coworkers are probably nodding their heads now. Therefore, I have made it a requirement to push myself outside my comfort zone and learn. Why you might ask? As Rob Barber recently wrote, innovation is a requirement in business today and technology is core to innovation.

During a recent Thanksgiving conversation with my older brother, who has always turned his nose up to social networking and online communities, I was surprised to hear that he plans to really dig in and learn LinkedIn which he has avoided until now. He also stated that his company, a large b2b electronics firm, is encouraging its employees to learn about social media and to start using it more in the coming year. I am not surprised - after all Twitter was declared the most popular English word of 2009. No, I did not make that up.

If you want to understand the business value of social media and online networking in the new year, including how to use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, below are a couple of simple ways to getting started:

Visit my blog from a short time back called Work, Life, Social Media Balance. A half hour a day, when you can on what you find valuable, and you are on your way.
If you plan to better understand how using social networking can help your business in the New Year, I would encourage you to spend 1 hour on Thursday December 10th listening to How to Generate Business Using Social Media Web Seminar. Yes, there is a small fee to attend, but the time saved, the social media roadmap, and checklist you will get from someone I consider to be one of premier minds in "the social media for business space", Jason Falls, will be invaluable.
This past week, I authored a post on Mashable titled How To: Make Social Media Work for Non-Consumer brands. I think many of our members would find value in reading it. It addresses the process to get started with creating a business to business social media strategy.

Social media can help you create time - not waste time. Plan wisely and don't let the words "social media" out to be negative or time spent messing around online. Remember, years ago we shrugged off beepers, cell phones, PDA's, email, ecommerce, and customer relationship management software. Think about how you would conduct your business today if we didn't have them? Online is one of the three pillars of communication. Pretty soon, the words "social media" will be on the above list of necessities as will many other innovative new technologies (tbd) in 2010 that I fully intend to explore to ensure that each year I am doing my part both personally and professionally to remain relevant in the eyes of my employers, customers, and peers.

Keywords

Business social media, Business New Years Resolutions, Generate Business, CRE, Environmental

Our Market Has Made Significant Progress with Social Networking (1 Comment)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:34:10 +0000

Entry by Mark Wallace

Entry

It really has been fun and rewarding to watch commonground as both it, and our members, have evolved. What do I mean? We have noticed that more and more members have begun to include their Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook information in their profiles on commonground as well as join our LinkedIn Group and Facebook fan page. Members rarely included information in those fields until recently. It is great to see members "experimenting" on other social sites and reaching out to us. The commenting on discussion threads has been fantastic. The individual notes thanking us for creating commonground have been great. Our recent award for winning the Forrester Groundswell Best b2b supporting community was surreal. I could go on...

The vast majority of our members were not involved in social networking 18 months ago. Some environmental and commercial real estate professionals still aren't, but that number is quickly decreasing. For every member I, or a member of our team speak with who are already seeing tremendous business benefit and or the potential down the road, there is another member (or non-member) that feels like social networking is a complete waste of time - time that they don't have. I would speculate that the above feelings are really no different than when most new technologies or changes are introduced that require any one of us as individuals to modify our behaviors and we want validation that we will see a return on time invested.

In an effort to help members who want to efficiently learn why social technologies are the hottest emerging trend in business, we are planning to run a premium web seminar on Wednesday December 10, 2009 at 2:00 PM that will address some of these key issues. The title is "How to Generate Business Using Social Media". It will be presented by Jason Falls, Social Media Explorer, a professional speaker and social media expert who specializes in helping businesses and professionals realize significant benefits by using social technologies.

Last week, I read a great Harvard Business Publishing Article by David Armano titled Six Social Media Trends for 2010. I feel David's predictions around use of social technologies are right on track. Here is a summary:

Social media begins to look less social enabling communications and interaction within our networks to be much more valuable (focused)
Corporations look to scale - across industries social technologies will become more mainstream as corporations look to form closer relationships with customers
Social business becomes serious play - social networking becomes localized and mobilized
Social media policy - your company will end up developing a social media policy (we are doing that now)
Mobile becomes a social media lifeline - employees are going to use social technologies whether corporate folks like it or not. And mobile devices will be used by employees at firms that are banning in office use- like it or not.
Sharing no longer means email. Expect news articles and other information to be shared via Facebook & Twitter - not just email. Yes, a spin on traditional email list distribution that creates tremendous benefits for both the consumers and distributors of the information.

In addition to the above, I would add one more and that is the emergence of social ecommerce. As the priest said at my wedding, looks like there is a nice big gathering out there, maybe we should take up a collection. It just seems logical and natural to enable transactions while we have customers engaged.

We look forward to helping members to learn more about how social technologies, web relationships, and a multi channel strategy can impact your business.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for 2:00 ET on December 10th. Registration will begin shortly.

Note: Please feel free to reply to this blog, contact me via twitter, or send me a private email and let me know if you have any questions you would like us to address during the web seminar. We have already begun to compile the list.

Keywords

Social Media 101, Jason Falls, Environmental Professionals, Commercial Real Estate, commonground, Groundswell

Have You Revisited Your Web Strategy Lately

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:17:38 +0000

Entry by Mark Wallace

Question: Why, in an environmental community, are we starting to talk more and more often about social media, search engine optimization, and social web presence?

Answer: The social web is changing business. And, even those who are not practicing social media like I do every day, are interested in trying to figure the whole thing out in an efficient way.

I think most professionals, including those that would fall into the "environmental professional" category know that Google is the most powerful business game changer of the decade. Even knowing that, many companies have been slow to the table to accept that and determine ways to ensure that their web and social presence is as strong as their traditional marketing presence.

Today, 85% of your customers, my customers, and our future customers search when they open their web browser as their first move. And, they do it 14 billion times per month. That is why as we approach 2010, you should revisit your web strategy. As Jason Falls states, search looks for a couple of things (relevancy):

1) Is your website content recent? If it is updated frequently, with dynamic and valuable content, you will rank higher in search results.
2) How many other people think that content is good? If users think the content is good, it will impact your positioning dramatically in search results.

Pretty logical stuff here and Google and other search algorithms are smart. How many companies think their products are great? Of course you/we do. That is why these search engines find more value in what the users of your products and services think. That trend will only continue to increase as we as buyers and consumers get access to more information via the web.

As we collectively move into the fall and start making plans and strategies for 2010, our goal is to share some practical business advice on how to help you capitalize on the most important trend across all business right now - the social web. If there is something you are interested in hearing about, please reply and let me know.

Social Media Crimes Don't Pay

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:41:37 +0000

Entry by Mark Wallace

I had mentioned that I planned to share a couple of lessons learned from the Inbound Marketing Summit - and I will. There is some very valuable information that I plan to share that I think will be helpful for members. However, I felt the need to voice my opinions on the recent social media frenzy.

"Balloon Boy".

I am guessing that everyone reading this probably knows the "Balloon Boy" story that transpired in Colorado last week. In case you were away on vacation in Antarctica, here is the cliff notes version of the story. A family, whose name I will not mention because it will only generate more publicity for them, had us believe that a six year old boy had floated away in a homemade looking spaceship across Colorado when in reality he was hiding in the attic of his home as part of the prank orchestrated by his parents. Millions of people watched. Emergency crews were deployed. Rescue plans were made. Police were on high alert. Significant costs were incurred....and sure enough it was a hoax. Now, these exemplary parents face jail time for their actions.

There have been a number of perspectives offered on whether in the end it was good or bad. Sure, it was great for traditional media outlets! "Balloon Boy" had all the elements of a great story - it was controversial, it kept viewers on the edge of their seats, it stirred emotions, and for many of us, it made you think about your own children and feel for the family. Many people at offices all over the world hovered around computer monitors and TV's watching coverage on MSN, CNN, and other sources.

And, then it happened. We found out we were duped. I believe that down the road, we will look back at this event as one of the events that may have changed social media forever.

Social media naysayers will not remember the many social media success stories, the Amber Alerts where social networks have influenced successful outcomes or how Obama proved how communities of peers can put aside differences and win an election they will remember "Balloon Boy" where the parents took advantage of us - using the tools that we have put in everyone's hands hoping they would act responsibly.

As members of the collective social network, I feel we should take some responsibility for creating and contributing to the "Balloon Boy" media frenzy. We need to send a message that individuals, groups, and companies who try to game the system will be prosecuted appropriately. Jail time, reimbursement of expenses, stiff fines, public apologies, and a lot of community service are definitely in order. One friend of mine suggested that they try to guess how much employee time was wasted as a result of their hoax and come up with a cost and make them pay it back. Interesting!

My expectation is as a result of this hoax, we will see a lot more about social media crimes, laws, and cases in the news. What do you think?

Types of Members of Social Networks (9 Comments)

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:15:55 +0000

Entry by Mark Wallace

Entry

For those of you who regularly participate on social networking sites, and those of you who have just started, you probably have noticed a number of different types of member personalities and patterns. In the social networking circles, you can search and find various explanations of the many types of participants as they really don't vary all that much across social communities and also real life.

The three types of members of social networks that we run into regularly include

Active and Social Members - The definition of an active member is one that frequently, perhaps even as often as daily logs in, contributes to posts, offers suggestions to other members, perhaps posts a job from time to time. The content provided by active members is considered valuable - even if it is not always spot on right.
Members who Loiter- Often called lurkers in the community space, lurkers read and consume information within the community, and do not generally contribute in the form of adding new content, such as commenting on blogs or discussions, starting posts, or adding opinions.
Members who seem like Trouble Makers - Trouble makers are bound to show up from time to time in a thriving community. The pattern is always the same. Trouble makers generally sign up under some false member name that hides their true identity, they spend a week or so adding content that most community members feel is often disruptive and worthless, and their posts generally come off as somewhat angry, unprofessional, end sometimes insulting. And, if they do make a valid point, their reputation makes everyone doubt its validity.

The members that often can have the most positive impact are the trouble makers - believe it or not. Why? Well it is simple.

They usually stir the pot which drives more participation
Most members tend to get upset with their comments - often times driving more of the members who loiter, to actually participate out of loyalty and pride for their community.
In the long run, the negative impacts of their actions are documented on the most powerful thing - the World Wide Web - driving traffic. And, controversy always gains attention which is often great for the community.

When I talk about these types with members, employees, and partners, the question often comes up - "then, how do we know if an answer or content is correct or credible?" I would encourage you to take the following into consideration when you are determining if there is any question about the credibility of the member and their contributions:

What seems to be a "Fake" username and profile - When a member hides under a fake name and chooses not to share who they are publicly, and their comments seem to be unprofessional, insulting, or inappropriate, then you should be cautious about the believability and credibility of their content - no matter how experienced they claim to be.
When a member uses the company name as the profile name - Many times a person will join as their company name and provide great contributions. However, other times, these members seem to be more guilty of adding recommendations with a bit more bias, selling their company vs. personal knowledge. Does not mean the information is not solid - you should just approach this with awareness.
The time of the posts - It has been my experience that sometimes great comments come in during non-work hours. However, it is also my experience that some of the more inappropriate comments happen after hours. So, you might want to check out the time stamp, the day, and whether it is on a weekend/weekday.
How have their posts been reviewed - If you see that a member's posts are generally given 1 star or 2 on a scale of 5, then others do not feel all that confident with either that persons' contributions or the accuracy of their answers.

In the end, you should always use your best judgment when deciding about the credibility of a post. Most credible social networks provide access to information about the contributor, so it is easy to check the above recommendations, but always use your best judgment like you would with anything else.

Should any of you feel that there are folks who do not meet the standards of the community and violate the rules of engagement and terms of service, I would always encourage that you let the community administrator for the community and other community members know.

Keywords

social networks, community members, member types, community credibility