Well according to Wikipedia “a social network is a map of relationships between individuals, indicating the ways in which they are connected through various social familiarities both personal and professional”
I love that Social Networking allows one to brand and market themselves. One can develop an online identity without having to create a personal website. Social network personal pages are where one can express their own identity. Now this can be either helpful or harmful in terms of progressing one’s career.One should be careful on how his/her social network personal page portrays their image not only personally but professionally.
The use of a Social Networking site has helped me increase my knowledge in areas that I was unfamiliar with before.When used properly some sites such as LinkedIn will allow you ask questions to those in a certain industry and great advice can be offered. One can also tap into their network contacts and foster new relationships by asking for an introduction (another great feature of LinkedIn).
The reason why blogs and other Social Networking methods are becoming increasing popular is simply because people love to be social and share their opinion. Many professionals love to show their expertise in a given industry or topic.
Some would argue that social networking is a waste of time and damaging to reputations. I might agree depending on how one decides to use social networking. Just like anything else Social Networking can be misused! I use it to stay in touch with my networks. I meet a fair amount of people between my work, associations, and groups I am currently active and involved with. LinkedIn is my way of organizing my business and personal contacts I receive otherwise I would be searching through business cards all day!
Some of my concerns with Social Networking include;
·The degree of security. It was said some time ago a major social network site was being used to collect everyone’s contact information in one spot.
·The complexity of these sites are becoming more and more difficult
·Social Networking is in its introductory stage meaning that it will change in terms of its usefulness and security or potentially some sites will go away.
·The information you find on profiles… Is it true????
·Some are too busy to update profiles…. So is the information you see up-to-date and accurate?
Although I am a fan of Social Networking, nothing will ever replace face –to-face and person-to-person interaction. It is more meaningful to learn about a person by having them tell you versus reading their profile and not having the opportunity to asked questions to better understand their background.
Making contacts through professional organizations and groups as well as networking with current and former co-workers, friends and neighbors is the best type of networking one can do….
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