So if I write on your wall who sees that?

"So, if I write on your wall, does that mean just you see it, or is it just my friends, or is it my friends your friends and their friends?"

The above snippet of conversation between mother goose and 16 year old daughter will either make immediate sense to you or be in the same category as "going on holiday in a caravan with your mother in law" i.e. totally incomprehensible.

If it makes no sense then you are obviously not a Facebooker as it refers to who can see what you have posted when you bear your soul, thoughts and dodgy drunken pics on Facebook.com.

As the resident house IT/internet geek, I was dragged into the discussion as an expert witness and muttered something about "….settings…….privacy…….FAQ's page", only to be speared between the shoulders by my annoyingly perceptive Gen Y'er with a, "You don't really know do you Dad, you only know about boring AZoM stuff" - Aggghhhhhh……..down I went.

And there it was, the lights went out on my all too brief moment basking in the spotlight of dot.com street cred. From 2000 to 2008, I'd been a moderately witty (for a Dad) writer, mouthpiece, financial trapeze artist for a cool dot.com that occasionally appeared on Google when she was researching science projects.

But that was then and this is now - you've gotta get the social stuff to be a player!

Or do you?

With the benefit of hindsight we started AZoM.com about 3 years too early. The materials industry/research community runs on an online clock that is about 3 years behind the geekiverse. I should say that is an average to ensure I don't offend one old friend in the UK who still swears by the benefits of windows 95 and wordperfect.

As with any average there are always the outliers and no doubt some of you are up there with your Facebooks, are Linked In and regularly Twitter and digg your way through the Web 2.0, but I reckon the majority out there in the "materialsverse" have overstuffed inboxes, in trays and a to-do list written on a bog roll, so the last thing you need is more online stuff to worry about.

Well if you're at all involved with marketing, I think you will have to.

Only this week I've read an Ad for a course offered by our local Uni titled, "Social Media Marketing Practice" - bad luck, it's becoming mainstream.

So here's the cut to the chase take away from my experiences over the last 6 months. They are written in a short, possibly controversial style as:

1. I've 200 words left and

2. Its August so most of you are on holiday and I'm wasting my time and

3. I'd like you to engage me in a debate or comment using social media tools.

Facebook is great for sharing your Photos with your family and friends but beware the old bunny boiling girlfriends or your wife posting your holiday snaps if you're the head of a reasonably sized national intelligence agency.

However, if you're in the business of connecting with consumers, there may be some opportunities for you as there's over 250 million now on Facebook, but I'm not convinced there's anything in it for materials marketers - am I wrong?

Twitter - I had a reluctance to get involved with Twitter for a very long time as the Brit in me is somewhat averse to directing the old grey matter in the direction of "Twits" ( def: a stupid or silly person), but I've given it a go (@birkers) and I find it useful and slightly addictive.

I find out interesting stuff and I get a warm fuzzy feeling by "Twittering" about the stuff that interests me as I self-importantly believe that others may find it of interest. I've also set-up business meetings with fellow twitters with associated interests.

Maybe you should be Twittering your company stuff? If you have a look at who I'm "following" you'll see there are quite a few interesting materials folk as well as the odd nutter and Government Minister Twitterspinning away.

Linked In - great to show off your CV, who you know and how important they are. I'm on LinkedIn but haven't got around to filling in all my profile as I'm probably unemployable.

Social.Materials and Social.Nanotech - we've had these set up for quite a while now, we thought it was a great idea to connect the materials and Nanotech communities but to be honest they appear to be going nowhere. There are some top people on there but the main interest in joining appears to come from Azerbaijani Ladies of the night with hotmail addresses - what are we doing wrong? Why isn't a specific social materials network more popular? Surely people want to ask questions and find like minded individuals? Or is it just plain old apathy?

YouTube - just do it!! It makes so much sense for anyone involved in materials, related goods services or research. A 3 min video says so much more than plain old writing. Plus you can also incorporate it into "Vidicles" (articles including videos, well I thought it was a good name) - current example on Tungsten Carbide.

So what do you do on Facebook, Linked In, Twitter or any other form of Social Media that's Materials related? tweet me @birkers or use the old fashioned email ianbirkby@azonetwork.com.

Editors Note:

For those of you who are gluttons for punishment and who send in kind words about Materials Thoughts, after seven years of blood sweat and horrendous topical gags with a materials slant the author has finally cast off his mask of secrecy and his collected dribblings can now be found at Social Materials or be followed on Twitter, with a wonderful archive of past Materials Thoughts on the AZoNetwork Blog Page - he says he'd love to hear from you.