Well I’m back from comps (at last) and gearing up for another academic year. This year I’m going to try and learn more about social networking. I’m not exactly a neophyte to getting connected online. Obviously I blog, and I find Facebook is a great way to stay connected with friends and family. In the weeks leading up to Congress and Career Corner this year I even started a Career Sense site on Twitter.

I am particularly interested in the use of social networking as a way to find people and opportunities related to employment. There’s a nifty little Youtube video on social networking in plain English  that does a pretty good job explaining the logic behind this hardly new dynamic. I’m curious about how useful social networking techniques would be for readers like you – some of whom are looking in a very specific job market (academe), and many more looking in just about any job market you can name.

A recent CNN article lauded the potential of social networking, while sagely cautioning, “It does open up a more 360 degree view”, meaning through sites like Facebook and MySpace, prospective employers know more about applicants than do many of  their family members. Clearly the technology isn’t without its downside. In spite of this, it seems inevitable that social networking is here to stay, and the sooner we grasp what that means — both the sweet and the bitter — the sooner we understand how to best leverage its potential.

I invite you along on my investigation. If you find interesting links, or have a social networking experience that had an impact — for good or ill — on your attempts to move ahead in your career, please post a message on this blog and share what you learned or found. After all, that is the true benefit of networking – you don’t have to do it all alone.

Are you hooked into social networking - which sites do you or have you used?

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