Do you use Social Networking to benefit your professional life?

Discussion in 'Polling Station' started by Phoenix, Sep 25, 2008.

?

Do you use Social Networking to benefit your professional life?

  1. Yes

    33.3%
  2. No

    66.7%
  3. Whats a social network?

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. Phoenix
    Honorary Member

    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    Serious poll time

    I'd like to know how many of you use social networks to benefit, or supplement your professional life
    and I don't just mean Facebook and Myspace before the haters jump in

    Lets try and remember that the internet was built upon social networks, networks of peers sharing information, evolving to bulletin boards where people with similar tastes conversed

    Then came the age of the internet Forum and the chat room, followed by the advent of social websites ranging from the personal kind (Facebook/Myspace) to Digg and del.icio.us

    What social network tools do you use to benefit your professional life, do you tag bookmarks in del.icio.us for later review at company meetings? do you browse the top Digged sites in a category related to your line of work? Do you chat on internet forums such as this one in a professional context as well as a personal one?

    Please give some details in addition to your votes :)
     
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  2. greenbrucelee
    Highly Decorated Member Award

    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    I am hoping the social networking site I use will put me in contact with people who I used to know and are in the profession I want to go into.

    I have made contact with some of those people but nothing has come of it yet. I wouldn't have joined one just for meeting up with old friends I did it more to see if it could help me get where I would like to be.
     
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  3. sunn

    sunn Gigabyte Poster

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    I don't use the sites to find other people in IT but rather keep in touch with old friends including those in IT. Some people I worked with, others I've been on course with; and yet others I've met on conferences, etc... In turn, those people know people that I get to 'meet' and be introduced to and my circle grows. So I use it to meet people, who sometimes are able help me.

    Does any of that make sense??? :blink
     
  4. BosonMichael
    Honorary Member Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    I think it's hard to be in IT for a number of years and NOT use them. I use forums for communication and to gain knowledge. I also frequent sites like Anandtech, Slashdot, The Inquirer, Digg, Reddit, etc.

    I'm not a Facebook or MySpace hater... I just don't have any need for them. :)
     
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  5. AJ

    AJ 01000001 01100100 01101101 01101001 01101110 Administrator

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    I voted no as I have no use for facebook and the like. However CF takes up most of my time.
     
    Certifications: MCSE, MCSA (messaging), ITIL Foundation v3
    WIP: Breathing in and out, but not out and in, that's just wrong
  6. simongrahamuk
    Honorary Member

    simongrahamuk Hmmmmmmm?

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    The only time I use any form of social networking is on foums such as this one, I've used Facebook, etc, but got bored with them.

    I do often make use of resources that I find on 'tinterweb to benefit me professionaly and personaly, but social networking, not really, no.

    8)
     
  7. Hades

    Hades Nibble Poster

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    It is something I may look at in the future but for now I dont bother with social networking
     
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  8. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Pretty much the same as AJ :p
     
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  9. dales

    dales Terabyte Poster

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    I've voted yes to this because I cant really see how any of us cannot say yes, whats this forum if its not a social network. I use it to gain knowledge on certain things, to help people out and sometimes general tittle tattle and that certainly comes under social in my book. Also use facebook to keep in touch with old mates and talk to particular buds about IT bits and bobs.

    Cant say I've ever looked at del.is.ous or whatever it is mind you, might go and have a goosey gander in a minute.
     
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  10. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    Nope! only visit CF:), seriously though.
     
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  11. Mathematix

    Mathematix Megabyte Poster

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    I use LinkedIn for professional networking. It's pretty much essential for my industry.
     
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  12. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

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    Nope, only use here!
     
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  13. neutralhills

    neutralhills Kilobyte Poster

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    I'm constantly turning down LinkedIn invites. I use Facebook a lot to keep in touch with other photographers, same goes for Flickr. I actually get a lot of image license sales through Flickr as that's where the serious photo buyers go these days.

    Can't say I've needed any social networking site for my professional life as a computer tech, but I've scaled back my I.T. existence to being a small town computer expert, which is much less stressful than previous jobs. Those swimming in bigger ponds may find social networking more useful. But for where I live, the local gossip network runs faster than gigabit ethernet, although corrupted packets are more of a problem. :twisted:
     
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    WIP: Upgrading MS certs
  14. Mathematix

    Mathematix Megabyte Poster

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    So why do you have the account? :blink
     
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    WIP: Not doing certs. Computer geek.
  15. UCHEEKYMONKEY
    Honorary Member

    UCHEEKYMONKEY R.I.P - gone but never forgotten. Gold Member

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    WIP: Comptia N+
  16. Phoenix
    Honorary Member

    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    Interesting set of results guys, thanks for the input

    Like dales I find the number of 'no' votes quite odd, considering the poll was initiated on a social network site, but a lot of us here don't use it for business purposes (although, I consider my professional development a business purpose :)

    It's interesting to me the number of people that automatically associate 'social network' with Facebook and Myspace, I tried to remove that correlation in my opening post, but it doesn't always go to plan :)

    I suppose the most business based for me is linked in and del.icio.us
    LinkedIn is pure professional for me, the folks I am connected to are work folks, business partners, vendor engineers etc, not much personal stuff on there, despite the personal bond I have with many of the contacts
    del.icio.us is a place i store and tag bookmarks, I'm pretty bad at the storing part, I'm moving to a new tag system that I can review on a more ongoing basis

    for instance if I see a link or article that might be worth mentioning in a blog, I can tag it 'toBlog' and then when I view my 'toBlog' links I can get a list of stuff that I wanted to write about
    the same can be said for links I may want to include in a customer emailshot, something like 'workTechUpdate' or something of the like

    I can also see what other people are bookmarking, which I think is a very useful part (and the social part) of del.icio.us, a quick look up for vmware, hyper-v or virtualization should turn up a ton of stuff for me to have a look through (all sorted by date too)

    I'm in talks with a local business about a lucrative employment opertunity, that stemmed from introducing myself to one of the consultants on last years VMWorld connect (VMWorlds private social network, to network peers attending VMWorld 07). A simple out of the blue introduction a year ago may result in a job this year now that I have moved, the technology is out there to facilitate this sort of interaction, I'm just not sure why so many people don't use it much

    In my travels I have noticed that techies are one of the largest groups to snub social media developments, perhaps due to the marketing overtones, perhaps due to some other unknown variable, but it's interesting to witness none the less

    Thanks again for your input folks, I do love an interesting and informative poll
     
    Certifications: MCSE, MCITP, VCP
    WIP: > 0
  17. neutralhills

    neutralhills Kilobyte Poster

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    I don't. Damned invites come to my e-mail address.
     
    Certifications: Lots.
    WIP: Upgrading MS certs

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