"Who's Got Your Back"–Some Lessons the Twitterverse Might Want to Take to Heart

In BoomTown’s efforts to stick to a theme today–a-day-without-a-Yahoo-post-is-a-day-with-sunshine–here’s an interesting video interview I did recently with well-known self-help consultant and author Keith Ferrazzi.

Following on his last book, “Never Eat Alone,” Ferrazzi has veered in a different direction from the one now in vogue–being social-networked up the ying-yang–with another, titled “Who’s Got Your Back.”

That means trying to hyperactively build a Twitter empire of thousands and connecting yourself to a Facebook Potemkin Village of “friends,” thinking this is what’s going to make your life fabulous.

According to Ferrazzi, though, you pretty much only need about three folks to help you succeed.

Wrote Ferrazzi on his Web site:

“The real path to success in your career and in your personal life is through creating an inner circle of ‘lifeline relationships’–deep, close relationships with a few key trusted individuals who will offer the encouragement, feedback, and generous mutual support that every one of us needs to reach our full potential.”

Deep, close relationships? A few key trusted individuals? Generous mutual support?

But you can’t do that in 140 characters!

It’s good to think about these things, as Ferrazzi does in this video, making some very salient points about the pitfalls of social networking (lack of generosity and accountability) and also what’s good about it (vulnerability, candor).

Here’s the interview that I did at Ferrazzi’s beach house in Malibu: