Assembling your “party”: Five kinds of friends you should make on social networks

Making friends on social networking sites like Digg, Facebook, Twitter, or FriendFeed is a lot like assembling an old-school RPG party: it takes certain kinds of people, carefully balanced, to make the social networking experience a pleasant one.  Just like you wouldn’t walk into an ominous dungeon without healers and support characters at your side, you shouldn’t brave the world of social networks without the aid of these five kinds of friends:

The Content Creator

Creative, charismatic, and talented, content creators provide the backbone of any social networking experience: quality content.  Ranging from the new media titans over at Revision 3 to your neighbor filming his dog in the backyard, these guys provide the foundation for discussion and innovation all across the internet.

Their true gift of a content creator is the ability to conjure something out of nothing.  Make friends with them by appreciating the time and effort that goes into their creations, and provide complimentary comments often.

The Human Filter

If you cloned yourself a hundred times, you’d never be able to keep up with all the great material that’s emerging on the Internet each and every day (and you’d need 100 more to help avoid the junk, anyway).  Human filters are the users that have the superhuman ability to parse hundreds to thousands of streams per day and only share the good stuff with you and their friends.  They hunt so you don’t have to.

The real contribution of human filters is being able to quickly find what matters and protect the trust of those that count on them.  Earn their friendship by thanking them for their efforts and passing on occasional leads you may come across.

The Conversationalist

These are the individuals that create and participate in discussions, threads, and topics all over the Internet.  When they see something they like, they don’t just smile and move on– they talk about it, share it, debate about it, promote it.  Message boards, comments, and replies would be much quieter without these individuals, so they’re a must to have on board.

Conversationalists are necessary because they provoke a high level of discussion that betters everyone who participates.  Befriend them by participating with them openly, always keeping civilty in mind. 

The Oddball

There’s some weird and wild stuff out there, and the oddballs always manage to discover it.  Unlike the human filters who process and whittle away, these spoony bards have some preternatural ability to discover the strange, unnerving, and bizarre.  How they do it is a mystery, but there’s no doubt that these folks provide an occasional and much-needed lightness and humor to the daily grind.

Oddballs are crucial because they make social networks a happier and more interesting place.  They’ll take to you fast if you show a zany and unpredictable side every once in a while!

The Connector

The web would be nothing without people.  Connectors are the extraverted individuals who realize this and use their people skills, contacts, and other resources to bring people together.  They’re the ones that are always recommending someone new to meet, introducing new people to different networks, or generally just being good-natured and amiable.

Everyone needs connectors because no one wants to be lonely.  Get to know these people by embracing, rather than avoiding, their personability.

… and more?

There are many more kinds of people that make social networks great, too.  Who have I missed?  What sort of individuals contribute value in your experience?  What kind of friend are you?  Do you disagree with any of these types?

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