Repeatedly over the last couple of years, I've run into friends who've told me that, thanks to my Facebook posts and blog posts and tweets, they get a good chunk of their news from me. Aside from being really flattering to be thought of as a one-man Huffington Post or Terry News Network, there's a bigger story here.
It's no secret that social media -- particularly Facebook -- has changed the nature of friendships. But it's changing the nature of business too. And for those, like me, who've stumbled into the convergence of the two, there's huge potential -- and a little peril as well.
Entrepreneur Daniel Gulati explains:
"Just as a business sells goods and services in exchange for cash, people were producing content in exchange for their friends' and followers' attention. We've created the "social swap" — a new form of transaction underpinning our online connections."
Plenty of big businesses are using their Facebook fan pages to mimick person-to-person social interaction. But the social swap Gulati describes is also helping real people cultivate their brand and bolster their business in ways none of us -- least of all me -- thought possible just a few years ago.
You can read more about how our friends are becoming our new customers here.
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