These days, the Internet is rife with what's called "social networking" Web sites. Everything seems to have a component where you deposit your info to connect with someone. Personally, I don't have much need for letting others know what's on my Netflix queue or filling out a bunch of info about me for others to see what I like on Amazon or eBay. My MySpace page remains virtually blank and friendless. And I'm too busy with my first life to get into SecondLife.
Face it, I'm just not a joiner in the virtual world.
A while ago a friend of a friend of mine invited me to join LinkedIn. It's a networking site for professionals to find clients, scout prospects, explore job opportunities, and...well...network. At the time, I was looking for a job, so I signed up, filled out some cursory information, and pretty much forgot about it. I then did the "other" kind of networking.
Lately, though, I started receiving a growing number of invites to my e-mail. So I checked it out again. After closer examination, I found it a well-organized site with a growing number of contacts. You have to have direct or secondary contact with someone before you can look at their profile. It's not some over-advertised waste of time like classmates.com that only seems to serve as a platform for e-marketing. I've had a couple of friends swear by it, so here's my profile. If I haven't invited you already, join in.
