Developing a Personal Sharing Network

As I mentioned last night on Twitter and on Google+ I've decided to stop using the term Personal Learning Network (PLN) and start using the term Personal Sharing Network. I'm changing the phrase I use because after giving many presentations on the topic and watching even more presentations and conversations on the topic I've come to the conclusion that there's too much emphasis on what "you can get out of a PLN" rather than "what you can share." Yes, I'm guilty of promoting PLNs in that manner in the past.

You can learn a lot by observing and occasionally sharing with a network. But until you start to share, you won't experience the full benefits of social media. As Guy Kawasaki mentions when in his latest book Enchantment (affiliate link) the way to get people to work with you is to trust them first and to share with them first. The more you share the more others will share with you.

This morning at the Washington Library Media Association's annual conference I will be giving a 45 minute talk on the topic of Personal Sharing Networks. The session will be streamed live at 10:15am PST and I would love to have you join us to add your comments and questions to the conversation. The slides for my talk are embedded below.