Business and enterprise software, and other applications that help a business run

Yesterday we talked a bit about the two biggest pure business uses to which social media can be put: public relations and marketing. While these uses are important they are not, in my opinion, the most important business use of this new online paradigm. As the lines between business and personal computing continue to blur, it seems to me that interpersonal networking is the single most important benefit that social media can provide.

You can see it on any of the social networks, but it is especially evident on sites like Plurk, Twitter, and FriendFeed. People of a feather flock together, and that is a marvelous thing for business. What you used to do at breakfasts and lunches, you can now do with many more people, on line, from the convenience of your computer. I have seen, using Plurk as an example, incredible efforts put forth by groups as diverse as social media marketers and knitters.

The value of networking in today's business world cannot be overestimated. It is the way the insiders in any field learn the latest news, find out what plum jobs are coming open, who got the last job, what the latest trends are, who needs a helping hand, and how to get some assistance with a problem. For almost every profession, networking is where it's it.

Readers that are not using these sites for social and business networking are failing to leverage their single most important networking opportunity; if you are not networking on line, you are getting farther behind every day. It is possible to contact literally hundreds of like-minded professionals by typing a single sentence. The same works for asking questions. With almost no effort, you can get the help of a huge group of professionals.

So if you are not already there, begin taking advantage of online social media and networking; you're not going to win the race without it.