Social Networking is here to stay and there are hundreds that you can join, but who in the world has time? I belong to a few of the major ones, but I really don’t participate much anymore because of people spamming me. The main reason people join of course is to make new friends, but they really started booming when marketers realized this was a great medium for meeting potential new clients and to expand their business.

One of the biggest and most popular business networking site is of course Linkedin and they have somewhere around 12.5 million members. This social networking site is designed to give registered users a way to maintain contact with people they know so those within the connection can use it to find business opportunities, find jobs and new contacts as well as review or recruit potential candidates and they’ve been around since 2003.

The most socializing I do these days is through Entrecard because it serves my purposes best. When I first started online I got involved in a small chatroom and it became like a small family and many of us actually met up in real life. I would say we were very lucky because there are a lot of psychopaths out there that use that medium to prey on unsuspecting people. Of course now that I’m older I would never choose to meet anyone offline, but that’s just me.

I guess I’m just not as ambitious or as social as I use to be. Many online businesses have events each year where all the posters get together and have a great time. They get to know each other by posting in the forums and commenting on the various blogs so they already feel like they know these people and I think that’s great and it always sounds like they have a wonderful time. Conventions and other huge events held in a public place are much safer than planning private meetings, just keep that in mind.

Social Networking has really come a long way from the days of chatrooms, instant messaging, and just e-mail. You should always be very careful about the information you put on your personal profile when you join these social sites. I know everyone knows the dangers of ever posting their social security number, address, phone number or where they go to school or work.

I actually had a big shock once when I told someone that I considered a friend online where I actually worked and they showed up unannounced. Now that was a creepy experience and I realized how stupid I had been later. Of course I felt like I had a stalker and I learned a very valuable lesson about giving too much information. Some people haven’t been so lucky especially young people that have problems and end up being someones prey.

I have met up with many old friends through MySpace, Facebook,  and Classmates and it’s always fun catching up on everyone’s life and what they are doing now, but I detest reunions so I’m quite sure I wont be going to any. Many people enjoy these social networking sites and make use of them because they’re usually free and more marketers are utilizing this free form of advertising for their businesses.

I personally find that too much involvement in all these social networking websites tend to lessen real interaction between people, but they have their uses, but use them wisely. I know people really love networking because most of us are very social beings, but many can’t interact in real life, so online becomes a way to be the social people we really want to be. Online people can write and say what they please with out looking anyone in the eye.

This is my last word on social networking because I’m certainly not good at it online or in my real world, apparently I am not a social being.