For many, the first thought that comes to mind after hearing the phrase “social network” is an army of teenagers and young adults—phones glued to their hands 24/7, snapping photos and videos, texting, blogging and constantly browsing Facebook or twitter to stay ultra-up-to-date with friends and be as virtually connected as possible to the world of social hype and hysteria. Time-out. While social networking is wildly popular with young adults, the trend of using networks exclusively for gossiping and self-promotion is about to change. Facebook has become friendly to both businesses and individuals alike, and it is now possible to create a page for your company that Facebook users ‘like.’ In fact, the ability of Facebook developers to integrate a variety of functions (that satisfy a variety of different uses) into one network explains, in large part, its huge success. At any rate, it is clear that Facebook is being utilized as a networking tool for professionals and teenagers alike, as Facebook is now the second most visited website in the world, and second only to Google. But Facebook isn’t the only social network that can help you publicly advance your career or business and get ahead in the world.

For 7 years now, the site LinkedIn has existed in order to help individuals, employees and employers create and foster business relationships with clients and partners through a public profile. LinkedIn is about to be joined by several other social sites with similar objectives and interests in mind. One such network, which is actually a subdivision of twitter, called Tweetajob will allow employers to get in touch with individuals based on their career interests and location. Carmen Hudson, the founder of Tweetajob told Mashable.com of this new social network function “I think the promise of Twitter lies in the ability to build and nurture relationships.” While Tweetajob may prove to be a very instrumental and successful Twitter function, it won’t be the solution for everyone. The same rule will likely apply to the new Microsoft social media platform, Townhall, a network designed for politicians to form relationships with their constituents and manage their campaigns. The trend that is clearly emerging from these next generation social media platforms is that networking is no longer the teenage cyber-hangout that it used to be. In fact, as these networks and other are teaching us, social media can be a great tool for professionals and businesses alike. Now, the catch is just leveraging your public profile for success.