How important are social networking sites for jobs?
Think about how many times you’re at a careers crossroads. You’re just starting out and you think: I really want to go into journalism. Or, I met this great guy and he’s moving me to Louisville—I don’t know anyone in Louisville. What the hell am I going to do? Think if you were connected very easily at low cost to everyone you knew, had ever met, or had a connection with, via Facebook, or MySpace, or LinkedIn. Or, say you had all these people following you on Twitter. You could send a note and say: Hey, does anyone know anyone in Louisville who works in journalism? When my husband and I moved to San Francisco, and he was trying to find a job in graphic design, it was months of me, when I met someone, saying: Hey, by the way, do you know anyone in graphic design? It’s months and months of conversation. It literally becomes a five second process on these sites. So there’s a real chain of connectivity that can be put to work. I’ve been a business reporter, so I’ve interviewed a ton of peo
