Facebook: It is a small world after all

Picture I took in the bazaar

The scene: There I was, a dusty, traffic-filled street, 10 000 kilometers from home,  in Ludhiana, Punjab, a  state in Northern India. I was shopping in a bazaar, taking in the sights, sounds and smells and dodging everything from stray dogs, rick-shaws and pretty much every mode of transportation you could imagine. Locals were eying me curiously, because despite being of Indian descent, I still stood out like a tourist.

In these bazaars, everyone is hustling-even young children! Each seller is trying to sell you some kind of  knick-knack and hoping to lure you into their shop/stand. At some point, it is easier to just avoid eye contact because even saying “No” gets the vendors engaged in a 5 minute conversation with you.

After spending an hour walking around and getting slightly annoyed by all the heckling (it was my first day there after all), you can almost imagine what my reaction was going to be when a young boy ran up to me holding a bag of chips. My initial thought as he approached me was-“Is this kid really going to try to sell me a bag of chips?”  But at the same time there was a flash of recognition. I knew this face! (It’s also worth mentioning that this was my first time returning to India after 22 years).

And at that very moment, the kid proclaimed with gusto, “I’m Karan Sidhu!”

Karan Sidhu. My cousin’s son. Whom I had never met before this moment. Where had I seen him? Where had he seen me? You guessed it.

Facebook.

He was with his father, my cousin, further up the street when they had spotted me walking around. My cousin who I had not seen since I was 9 and who had no idea we would be shopping in that area. What a coincidence!

I thought it was pretty neat. And there after for the rest of the trip it became the family story. Thankfully, I didn’t tell him to bug off 😉

It’s no wonder Mark Zuckerberg was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. Getting 500+ million people to join your site and actively participate is no small feat. Intentionally or not, Zuckerberg’s Facebook has made the world a smaller, more connected place. Geography and distance are no longer keeping people apart.

There will always be the naysayers, though. Yes, you can waste hours playing Farmville on Facebook, just like you can spend hours in front of the television but the choice is ultimately yours. Whether you want to use Facebook to keep tabs on your friends, family abroad, face-stalk your ex’s or your arch-nemesis in high-school (come on, we’ve all done it), connect with your customers or build a community around an idea..there are endless possibilities.

Initially used more as a way to keep in touch with friends and family, I am seeing its value more and more for entrepreneurs and business owners as a way to connect with people you don’t know but share common interests or needs.

As a business owner, you also have the choice and can choose to ignore it completely but as Gary Vee pointed out in his video:  social media is not a necessity but an opportunity.

An opportunity to connect, share and engage.

Thoughts?