Remembering where your friends are

We're told that our social networks helps to make us smarter. This Scientific American blog post, Social Networks Matter: Friends Increase the Size of Your Brain, reports that we have individual traits that make us more or less social, but, even so, being in a social setting causes positive brain changes.

It's been more than five years since I've worked in an office. I have to be intentional in my efforts to keep in touch with people, personally and professionally. Ideas need people to thrive.

For example, I worked at Rational Software during the time that it was acquired by IBM. I have kept in touch with many former co-workers in person, through email, and in social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+.

This morning, I read this article, IBM in the software era: Big Blue man gives HP a seminar • The Register. The piece includes an interview with Mike O'Rourke,  VP of Rational's  strategy and product management, a division of IBM software. O'Rourke became VP a couple of years after I left IBM. He has some interesting perspectives, however, on the evolution of Rational's products from the time of the acquisition. My former co-workers might be interested in this. Where, then, should I post this link?

An email to selected friends would have been most direct and probably the most likely to generate comments. The problem is that those comments would, at most, be seen by the people on the email thread. Others who currently work at IBM and people with whom I don't regularly correspond wouldn't have a chance to join in.

Facebook would be good. It is possible to post a message that's seen only by friends who worked or work at IBM Rational. That's a good-sized list. Some people, however, don't use Facebook with (former) co-workers; they only permit connections with friends in real life. I've had Friend requests turned aside by co-workers whom I thought of as friends. So it goes.

Google+ has lively discussions, but a limited audience.

I finally decided to share it in the Rational Alumni group on LinkedIn. More of my former co-workers are there and there's a greater likelihood that others would find this interesting. I'll report back on the results.