With the Internet now integrated into nearly all aspects of everyday business use, recognizing the important role that social networking can play in the world is important for everyone – employers and job seekers.
The Importance of Social Networking
Social networking can help a business gain contacts, clients, potential employees, and increased public awareness. Even small businesses running from their homes can take advantage of this resource to set up a global presence. To make the most of social networking, it's important to fully understand the concept of social networking and how it can be applied in ways that will help you grow your business. For job seekers, the various social networking sites offer an opportunity to learn a lot about companies, see what people are saying and what current employees are like.
What Is It?
Even before the Internet, social networking existed. In a nutshell, social networking is when a person uses already existing contacts to meet new people as potential social or business links. Such links, in turn, will help expand future connections. Small and local businesses can even do this simply by attending community events or participating in trade shows. For people, getting together at the local pub or partaking in various activities (biking, running, hiking, bowling, etc) can introduce you to a larger network of people. Anything that gets the company or your name out there connects you to helpful resources, is considered networking. Technology now makes this possible to do online, and not just face-to-face. Of course, even with the internet, face-to-face is still a valuable tool to build your social network.
How Can It Be Done Online?
One can compare social networking to the concept of the six-degrees of separation. Based on the idea that any two people can be connected through a chain of five or less intermediaries, social networking can occur through social network sites and communities that may not have formed before the Internet. Through these sites, people join, and then invite their established contacts to do the same. Those contacts will likewise invite other individuals and so on and so on. Social networking sites are created to assist in online networking. These sites are generally communities created to support a common theme. Since the creation of social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook, individuals are given opportunities to meet new people and friends in their own community and across the world. Businesses can follow this trend. Facebook encourages smaller to large-sized businesses to set up an online presence as a way to advertise and promote business activities. By doing so, individuals can become "friends" or "fans" of the profile, and will be updated on current events, specials, and other essential information the business would like to share. At Xtreme, we have setup pages to do exactly that and hope you become a fan! Using the six-degrees of separation concept, a new friend will expose your business to a new set of people who are listed as their respective friends and so on. Often, I find myself tracking down contact information on people via friends or friends of friends that may know someone I need/want to connect with. Personally, I love this ability that sites like Facebook and LinkedIn now make so easy.
Beware Of The Downsides Of Social Networking
Of course the openness of social networking does expose your life and reveal something about you or your company that you’d rather your current or future employer or even a competitor not know. Use your online profile as a free place to promote yourself or your company professionally. If you keep that approach in mind, you won’t post anything you’d regret later, and you’ll enjoy the benefits of staying connected with friends and acquaintances, while protecting yourself and even bolstering your image online.
Does It Work?
It can work as long as you treat online social networking just as you would if you were doing it in person – but on a larger scale. Be an active member of a community or site. That being said, it is only as valuable as the amount of effort you want to put into it. Just like meeting face-to-face, a first impression is a lasting one – so make it count. For businesses, remember to create a page that reflects the atmosphere or culture of your business – within reason.