To often, it seems, we forget that the people we interact with have their own lives. Their social relationships have far more impact on their behavior than anything you or I might say or do. This is one of the tenets of The Four Agreements. Nowhere is this more important than in public relations. PR is a lot more about psychology than people realize.
Regardless if you're trying to influence someone or just to break bread, it's important to see the world through their eyes, not just yours. Here are two easy ways to do that.
First, if they're on Twitter, check out cTwittLike. Using this tool you you can see what any given Twitter user might be facing (or not) in the way of noise when they log in. Here's what my friends' social timeline looks like.
You can also do something similar with Facebook by viewing how any of your friends see your profile. This is handy if you don't want someone in your circle to see a small something like "Jessica is now single." To see how others see you, visit this page and start typing in your friends' names.
