Are You on Social Networking Overload?

Social networking can be integral to getting and keeping a job. But with social networking sites -- and invitations to join them -- coming fast and furious, what’s a career-minded social networker to do?

According to this MSNBC article, there is such a thing as social networking overload. Says the story’s author:

In researching this column, I signed up for as many of the networks out there as I could and what did I get? A headache. Suddenly my email inbox was flooded with friends accepting my invites for Plaxo, Twitter, etc., and I realized there was no way I was going to have time to do any of these sites justice. Especially since I’m already a member of LinkedIn and Facebook, and I barely have time to keep those up-to-date.

So which sites are best for the career-minded to focus on? For general job seeking, the author primarily recommends LinkedIn, followed by Facebook and Squidoo. There are also several highly trafficked, industry-specific networking sites, such as ThomasNet for engineers (40 million user sessions, according to the article) and ITtoolbox for those in information technology, which boasts 700 discussion groups.

I am a member of LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace, and it is indeed a struggle to update all those profiles, send and accept friend requests, and troll the sites for new contacts. It seems when it comes to social networking, quality trumps quantity. But for best results, don’t forget to get off the computer and meet with the three-dimensional people as well. 

For more on social networking best practices, check out these resources:

• “Seven Tips for Social Networking Online”
• “Social Software and Your Career”
• From the Monster Blog: “Social Networking Resources for Professional Development”
• From the Monster Blog: “Become a Subject-Matter Expert with Social Media”

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