Face to Facebook

Pablo Fernando Sanchez cheerfully admits to being a “geek” – and he says so in true computer geek fashion, via instant messaging. Sanchez, general manager at a consulting firm in Bucaramanga, Colombia, is perfectly at ease in the virtual world – he even met his wife, Cristina Cortes Otero, online.

And as head of the public relations committee of the Rotary Club of Bucaramanga Nuevo Milenio, where his wife is also a member, Sanchez not only developed a Web site for his club, he also created a Rotary International group on the social networking site Facebook that, so far, has more than 1,000 members – or “fans,” as they’re called – from around the world.

Sites such as Facebook and MySpace may have started out as a teen fad, but adults have realized their value as a way to keep in touch with far-flung friends – and to make new ones. The fastest-growing group among Facebook’s more than 70 million users worldwide, in fact, is made up of those age 25 and older. Another networking site, LinkedIn, was launched specifically as a professional networking site.

These sites allow users to create a network of friends and associates and easily communicate with them one-on-one or en masse. On his page, Sanchez blogs, posts relevant Spanish-language news articles, and provides a central place on the Web where Rotarians from around the world can meet.

Sanchez’s is just one of many Rotary Facebook groups. Search “Rotary” on Facebook, and you’ll find groups of Rotarians from Taiwan to Belgium, Mexico to Denmark, as well as groups centered around Rotary Youth Exchange opportunities, Interact activities, leadership conferences, and more.

“Facebook is a social network in virtual space,” Sanchez explains. “I think you can do everything you do in off-line social networks. We get in touch, we share experiences, we know each other just a little more each day. I think we could start a project with our clubs from these contacts.”

The various online networks offer different advantages. Sanchez likes Facebook because it’s easy to use and allows privacy controls. “You can configure what to show, and to whom,” he says.

MySpace, meanwhile, caters to bands and musicians wanting to develop a fan base and, generally speaking, tends to be popular with teenagers. LinkedIn is geared toward professionals in all fields who want to share expertise and contacts.

Julien Recoussine, a sales and marketing consultant and president of the Rotary Club of Seattle Skyline, Wash., USA, hangs his virtual hat at LinkedIn.

“I was looking for a place to professionally network,” Recoussine says. “LinkedIn is completely professionally oriented. I use it to find customers or potential customers.”

LinkedIn users create a web of connections. If a user wants to reach someone who is not part of their network, it will show them the path of connections between them and that person (going by the six degrees of separation model) so that they can arrange an online introduction.

Recoussine has also used the network for his Rotary club’s vocational mentoring program. “I can find someone in that career and ask if they do mentoring,” he says.

And if his club is launching a project that requires particular expertise not represented among club members, he can search LinkedIn for advice or help – sometimes typing “Rotary” into the search field and finding fellow Rotarians. “Rotary allows me to find contact points among companies and gives me a certain degree of credibility.”

Another LinkedIn feature allows users to ask questions of everyone who belongs to the site, and to answer other people’s questions. “They have a system that ranks your answers,” Recoussine explains. “When you get ranked with enough ‘best’ answers, LinkedIn starts to give you credibility. It pegs you as an expert on the subject. That’s very valuable to me as an independent business owner.”

Online networking is growing fast, but not everyone has signed on yet. Jasive Cabello Hernandez, a Rotaractor in Monterrey, Mexico, has told her Rotarian father about the Rotary groups on Facebook, but he still does his networking the old-fashioned way: “by phone,” she says. Still, she hopes he’ll check it out eventually. “Not all Facebook members are young people, like many people think,” she says.