To grasp social networking, start with Tribes and the Net Generation!

Everyone's talking about it... the emergence of social networking and all its' variations -- microblogging on Twitter, video-sharing on You Tube, professional networking on Linkedin! Participation is growing by leaps and it's revolutionizing the way people think, work, socialize and interact on a global level. Perhaps you're on board already, but if you are of the mind to ask "why should I?," then these freebies might interest you.

Seth Godin's book, Tribes, is available in an unabridged free version for you to download from Audible for a listen. His discussion is based on this premise, "The Web can do amazing things, but it can't provide leadership. That still has to come from individuals - people just like you who have a passion about something. The explosion in tribes means that anyone who wants to make a difference now has the tools at her fingertips...the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important, they're enabling countless new tribes to be born.." The author's interview with WIRED this month is also a good place to become introduced to the author of Tribes.

Second, and I'm speaking here from my Baby Boomer vantage point, is New York Times best-selling author Don Tapscott's book Grown Up Digital. The CEO of Dell says, "(He) provides an exciting roadmap to surviving and thriving in the Connected Era." Tapscott's work is an in-depth study of the Net Generation, our youth ages 11 to 30. "For the first time in history, youth are the authorities on something really important," Tapscott writes. "And they're changing every aspect of our society -- from the workplace to the marketplace, from the classroom to the living room, from the voting booth to the Oval Office." My personal favorite is Part III, Transforming Society. In my humble opinion, this book will be valuable to and enjoyed by parents, activists, employers, communicators, marketers and educators of any age. Download the introductory chapter of Grown Up Digital.