Now I bet there are a lot of people out there who have made a minor attempt at setting up a Twitter account, a blog (ahem), a LinkedIn profile and then have left it sitting there doing nothing, being of no use to anyone.
I talk from experience my fellow reader. I too am guilty one too many times of seeing something that looks interesting, making an attempt to get started and then forgetting to maintain it. If it's something you haven't done before then lack of knowledge and the initial lack of a community or following may discourage you from continuing to use social media. However, I urge you to stick with it!
I recently wrote a blog for work discussing why it's a good idea to set up a Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn account for networking and job hunting purposes. Even if you're not an active job hunter, it still enables you to join a network where you will know the latest information about your industry. Head hunters are very open to sharing this information with those they engage with, so don't be afraid to connect with them.
Within the aforementioned blog, you'll see I've provided you with a few tips for getting up and running on LinkedIn which I hope you'll find useful.
Another link you may find interesting is the following regarding Intel's social media recruitment strategy. A great example of how companies are now realising that social media has become such a permanent fixture within people's lives, that this is a fantastic platform for engaging with a) the type of people they want to employ and b) their customer base where they can also gain some intelligence and brand awareness for free!
I guess the overall message of this blog is "get stuck in". If you're going to start using a social networking site then throw yourself into it because that's how you'll get the most out of it!
