The whole idea of online networking has gotten coverage lately. Sites like Facebook and Twitter have created networks of friends, colleagues, classmates, clients, and service providers that people are still trying to get their heads around. I am still comprehending these resources and I’m a pretty savvy user of email and the World Wide Web.
I was first introduced to LinkedIn by colleague Charlie Hamilton, but let the whole idea just sit there. I picked up a few friends and relatives to form a miniscule network. Just recently though I decided to really explore LinkedIn and see if its features might benefit me, a freelance writer and wannabe novelist between gigs. I went to the trouble of completing a profile with my employment history and education and I was able to add this blog and my web site. Then I started surfing around and inviting people. Some people I haven’t seen or heard from in fifteen years. You can cross check old jobs and schools to see who else listed them. I found a high school classmate from Sacramento who has worked here in town for 35 years and an attorney I worked with in the 1980s.
Charlie recommended I check out Facebook. I figured this was for middle and high school students. Since I didn’t like high school the first time I never even looked at it. I was surprised that it was really quite tame and perhaps another good way to get my name out there. After all, it’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.