networks

This week I aim to finish a part of my thesis concerning subjectivity in network societies, I need to have a first draft ready for a newspaper comment about ephemeral connections (working-title, who knows where I'll end up), and I need to start thinking about my presentation for a conference next week, working title "social competence in network societies". No wonder I kept waking up tonight, frantically thinking about networks.

happily ever after

150 000 Norwegians (a crude estimate) are browsing Facebook friends-lists, groups and networks, looking for people they know and people they once knew. I'm pretty hopeless when it comes to people I used to know 10 or 20 years ago but no longer do, they kind of scare me. Who are they now? Do they even recognize me? Do they care? I therefore find the popularity of Facebook in Norway these days challenging and exciting. How do I relate to people I no longer know? I accept friends requests from friends of the past, and I'm happy when people add me (oh, she remembers me). I've been searching for old friends, but I don't know whether I'll add them unless they add me first. Facebook challenges my conception of my social life as constantly evolving; loosing some friends and meeting others. Are we all supposed to be friends for ever after in the future?

Employer Branding strategies

I just talked to a guy from Universum Communication, an employer branding company offering help for companies who are searching for attractive employees. I declined to give a talk on a seminar in May about new approaches for recruiting people. I'm learning to say no to extra work assignments, that's good. But we had a brief and interesting conversation: there's very little unemployment in Norway, and the competition for the brightest people is tough. Hence, try advertising in Facebook? or any social network service, even MySpace? You have LinkedIn of course, but the point is that having a comprehensive online presence does not at all imply less chances of a future career. Quite the contrary.

Given the beneficial conditions for well-qualified people in Norway, I should have pretty good chances of finding interesting work after my PhD?