A chance conversation with @farhan about social networking and social media reminded me of something I’d been considering for a while, but hadn’t got round to posting.

Which is the fact that ‘social networking’ has always existed in a very formal sense – in the networking that took place on the golf course, or amongst graduates of certain university colleges or public schools (In the UK, a ‘public’ school is, in fact a private school). You’d network with people wearing the right tie and blazer, and you’d either be born into, or pay your way into that network. A rare few tended to work their way into it by some good fortune.

And I’m not for a moment going to suggest that the ‘old school tie’ networks have been replaced by Facebook or Twitter. Or that there aren’t cliques already formed by social media ‘experts’, marketing people or tech geeks.

But the barrier to entry has become a lot lower. By investing time and effort into researching the right topics, adding value, or tieing together individuals, it’s entirely possible to become the lynchpin or a significant member of an online community – and whilst it’s not always a measure of skill or knowledge, the barrier is your natural skill in interacting via your keyboard or mobile, rather than anything else – unless you’ve reached a certain stage of internet celebrity, your looks, elocution, or ease in the presence of others won’t be tested, and your online social footprint will go some way to preparing, mitigating or even celebrating your possible shortcomings.

Which can only be a good thing – although the question is whether the new networking will evolve to better recognise the people truly providing value, and those who talk (blog) a good game. And how well those truly working at what they do are able to invest the additional time in marketing themselves in the age of the *ahem* personal brand.