Online Networking, also known as Social Networking, has gained enormous popularity and professional credibility in recent years. Most professionals belong to a growing number of online communities and actively participate in social networking. Social media tools simply allow us to connect to others; however, the wide range of options today make using social media anything but simple. Social media tools range from blogging to broad professional networks such as LinkedIn and personal networking sites such as Facebook.   Developing a comprehensive social media strategy can benefit professional growth and greatly enhance your traditional networking efforts. A comprehensive strategy could include any of the following: 

• Blogs
• Twitter (or ‘micro-blogging’)
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Affinity Groups (usually based on industry, profession or geography)
• e-Newsletters
• Articles
• CRM tools (Customer Relationship Management for your personal contacts)

The key to using social media successfully is to have a strategy and to ensure that the tools you choose are used in a relevant and complementary way. When conducting a job search the value of appropriately targeted social media is invaluable.