What Price Reciprocity?

Networking, online or in person, has become even more prevalent in business today. We look at social media as a norm of online networking, and attend “in person” networking meetings at an amazing rate. New meetup (http://www.meetup.com) and ning (http://www.ning.com) networking communities pop up daily. Traditional networking groups now have competition for our time and efforts as we all work together to help each other through this economy.

But what price reciprocity? As you recommend a fellow networker, do you have expectations that they will return the favor? After all, if you don’t have that expectation, what is it that you hope to gain from networking other than meeting new people? While many established businesses have been networking for a while, they are much more proficient in their methods of garnering referrals. Perhaps the reciprocity could be as basic as showing you the ropes and helping you learn how to garner referrals.

As you follow people on Twitter, are they following you back? Do they see value in your message? What did you see that made you follow them? Have they delivered on that value? Sometimes we go to tweetups and other networking events and quickly follow people we meet. Once we have time to review their profiles and reflect on their message, we realize that they really aren’t part of our community. We don’t share the same values. Do you unfollow them? Only you can answer this. But if they are not following you, the answer is evident.

A community, in person or on-line, is built on reciprocity. We all help each other. We are building relationships and sharing ideas. A member of the community who doesn’t join in and reciprocate is not adding any value to your community. Their authenticity is questionable and they have chosen to be an outsider. But as your community continues to build, they may decide to be a part of it. Now the choice of reciprocity is yours.