What is Social Networking?

We’ve all heard the buzz about MySpace.com, and odds are high that you’ve probably heard the phrase “social networking.” It’s even made its way into Webster’s Dictionary.

According to Webster’s, social networking is the use of a website to connect with people who share personal or professional interests, a common place of origin, an education at a particular school, etc. Classmates.com and MySpace.com are two well-known sites that immediately come to mind.

(To see the top 20 social networking sites, go to:

http://www.selfgrowth.com/socialnetworkingwebsites.html)

With all of the buzz around social networking, people have asked me if they are really that important, or more for fun and games for young kids on the Internet.

The answer? Social networking sites are a *very* important part of the Internet. In fact, there are 3 main reasons that you *need* to know about social networking websites.

1) They are becoming a critical component of information flow on the Internet. Over 400 million people are involved with a social networking website.

2) They are now an important method for making both social and business contacts regardless of the type of business you are in. Sites like http://www.linkedin.com and http://www.ryze.com are becoming valuable resources.

3) You can use their power to change the level of success for your website. Sites like http://del.icio.us and
http://www.stumbleupon.com are driving massive amounts of traffic to commercial websites.

To see the top 20 social networking sites and figure out how they can help your business, go to

http://www.selfgrowth.com/socialnetworkingwebsites.html

And as always, thanks for being a part of the SelfGrowth.com community.

Sincerely,

David Riklan

Founder – SelfGrowth.com