Here I am, in a cafe in Prague (kavàrna in Czech), thinking of what’s the best way to wish a merry Christmas to all my connections, people I know, and those who belong to my Open Network.
Option 1: set the status of facebook, skype, LinkedIn, twitter…
That’s maybe the fastest way to wish everybody a happy Christmas with the less effort, but…does it really mean a thing? Wishes might be something personal, probably less than 10% of my network will read my status, and no one of this 10% will care about it because it’s not directly written for them. So : Method 1 REJECTED!
Option 2: write to everybody, one by one, a nice and personal message.
Ok, that’s the way it’s meant to be…but…what if your network is composed of hundreds of connections? And I’m still a “beginner”…serious networkers can boast thousands and thousands of connections, and many of those connections are just names on a list! No relationship, no knowledge of each other but for the name (or alias) and a small picture on the profile. So it’s not that good, and plus, today it’s the 24th…there’s not too much time left! Method 2 Partly REJECTED!
Option 2.1: write some templates, group somehow your contacts, and send the appropriate template.
Well, it’s getting better, for those I don’t know a “Merry Christmas and all the best in 2010″ will be enough, maybe adding some marketing/branding stuff. For my friends…well…I don’t really like those templates sent by friends, but yesterday an old friend of mine, Federico, tagged me on a kind of “Christmas Card” on facebook, along with many other people! That’s nice, but for the spam generated from the comments of other people. There’s another problem with grouping your contacts: do you really know if they do care about Christmas? Many social networks don’t show the religion on profiles, so what’s the point in wishing an happy merry Christmas to a muslim, or to an atheist (like I am, so I wonder why I’m writing that…maybe ’cause I’m Italian, and it’s hard to get rid of traditions). And that consideration will lead to my final decision. Method 2.1 Partly REJECTED.
Option 3: write a really meaningless message, and send to EVERYBODY!
The message I’m talking about is something you would write in the option 1, something impersonal, short…the only difference is that your people will get it in their mailbox, and will trash it straight away! That really sucks, REJECTED!
Bonus option: Pretend you forgot that it’s Christmas and you should do something.
Not that nice, even because this time give us ([open] networkers) a good reason to use our imagination and say to the others: I’m alive, and I’m not just using an automated API based program to wish you all the best. So, this bonus method is REJECTED, along with the other 4.
So…what am I gonna do?
Analyzing the situation, the problem is still unsolved, and since I’m a problem solver, that’s the solution, the ultimate solution to Christmas, New Year, and everything: Don’t panic!
I said that it’s already late to dispatch some hundreds e-mail, that I don’t like impersonal messages, and that I don’t know habits and religion of all my connections, so…I’ll take time and wish everybody an amazing happy new year, and I’ll do it in time…
For now, I’ll go thru my Facebook people (people I do know personally), make some sweet, sexy, finger licking virtual card, tag them there (copying what Federico did) and let the spam flow go! Then I will get my Twitters…those who aren’t on FB, and write them a 140 character message, pick up my gmail address book and write to those who are still missing in action, and if somebody pops up on skype…then merry Christmas to them as well!!!
