Everyone is still discussing the hottest topic in the media circuit—social media. As I observe what has happened in this arena in the past year or so, it seems like an explosion has taken place, but has it had positive or negative results, or both?

Many of my friends and co-workers spend hours upon hours in this digital media communication. Businesses have, in most cases, embrace one form or another of social media and seem to be using it primarily for reconnecting, building new connections and for generating opportunities. As a matter of fact, businesses that have not jumped on the social media bandwagon are now viewed as behind the times. Even Facebook, which had a slow start in the business environment has begun to take off, as Facebook traffic has grown exponentially since it launched early 2004. As of last report, there are more than 500 million Facebook users.

As business owners, managers and leaders, what does this phenomenal growth mean for how we communicate with other businesses and our clients? Are we becoming more social beings because of social media? Does this make us better connected? Does it lead to stronger relationships? Will social networking ever really replace tried and true business networking?

Research has recently shown that Twitter, for example, is not a very social network for business folks. After analyzing more than 41 million user profiles, only 22 percent of connections are reciprocal, meaning that 78 percent are one-way relationships.

From my experience, face-to-face encounters still generate the best relationships and are more capable of building loyalty among businesses. Occasionally I hear about companies that discover each other through social media, but much more often, it is face-to-face experiences that lead them to do business together. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t use social media. Just be careful of how much time you spend on one-way communications.

Whether it is relationships or our physical world around us, change has become the natural order. Day becomes night, winter becomes spring, memory cards replace photographic film, IPods have replaced CD players, and now my better half is looking at an electronic book reader to replace her paperbacks.

 In the professional services world, like our CPA firm, the closest relationships bring about the largest amount of business for us. Therefore, we do our best to deepen our relationships—for our personal as well as business reasons.

 Many of us say that we accept that everything is constantly changing, yet many of us refuse to accept that premise in an incredibly crucial area of our lives—our attitudes about ourselves and our lives. Often we hear or say to ourselves, “I know I could get so much more accomplished if I could only get more organized and stay focused on one thing at a time…but, I’ll never get organized, that’s just the way I am.”

 The fact is we can change our habits, and we can change our outlook, which is what has to happen first. We need to believe that as everything changes, so can you. If we continue to say or think “that’s just the way I am,” then an artificial barrier keeps you from accomplishing what you ultimately would like to accomplish.

 Physical strength will not knock down the barrier. It will take a shift in your attitude; a shift in your way of thinking; and most importantly, a shift in your beliefs. A shift from “It’s just the way I am” to “Everything changes…and so can I.”

Corbett, Duncan & Hubly PC on Facebook

Facebook is the largest social networking website with over 300 million active users, in which the fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older. An average Facebook user engages 130 friends on their site and there are more than 45 million status updates every day.

Corbett, Duncan & Hubly PC is happy to announce a Facebook fan page:

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