Social media is usually used to refer to websites that encourage online “social networking.” In this article we’ll use it to mean the range of online activities that enable you to create virtual relationships with people who have interests similar to yours.

And this social media activity can be very important for people looking for jobs. You can use social media activity to:

that you can add to your value as an employee by utilizing your social media contacts to help disseminate the employer’s promotional message

Social media can take different online forms, and we’ll be talking about two major ones:

Blogging started out as the online equivalent of keeping a diary – albeit a diary without a key and thus open to the entire globe (or at least the entire globe who read English).

Blogging gives you the opportunity to share information with others. Even if your blog doesn’t have a large readership, what you write can still impress potential employers.

There are free blogging hosted platforms such as www.blogger.com where you can set up your own blog in a few minutes. If you plan to become a serious blogger, it would be a good idea to first spend some time learning about the different blogging platforms, including self-hosted ones.

Social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are free membership sites where you can connect with other people and share information.

Each site has a different focus and requires specific strategies for optimizing one’s experience on the site. This is why there are so many websites offering reports and training sessions on how to effectively use these networks.

And at first you’ll need a glossary of terms just to use the language correctly. For example, you follow people on Twitter and you friend people on Facebook.

As you participate in social media it’s important to have a job search strategy: First, you want to make sure you always appear professional. This means that the photo you use for your profiles on these sites as well as any other photos you choose to post should be respectable (for example, no visible beer cans and no low-cut tops for women).

Second, you want to clearly state what you are looking for. Saying you are looking for a job isn’t specific enough. Instead, for example, you could say: Looking for a management position in a software company in Southern California.

Third, you want to take advantage of all the help you can get. For example, use LinkedIn’s testimonials option to reach out to people who can give you testimonials for your profile page. Obviously you will ask people who can give you testimonials that will support your job search.

Fourth, make sure to reciprocate to help others. This is true after you get a new job as well as during your job search. After all, you never know when you’ll be in the job market again. You want to keep up the online connections you’ve made.

In conclusion, thanks to the Internet the ability to connect with people who might be able to help with your job search has increased tremendously. And to take advantage of these online opportunities, you should definitely be utilizing social media.

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Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is an Internet business consultant whose power marketing website is http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com . If you liked this article, you’re going to love her free report on “Power Marketing’s Top 3 Internet Marketing Tips” ‘ grab your report now from http://www.TeachMeToUseTwitter.com

Finding people to follow on Twitter can be undertaken in numerous ways. When you first join Twitter you are prompted with “See if your friends are on Twitter.” And you can check Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, and MSN email accounts.

It’s better to skip this step when you first join because you don’t yet have anything in your profile. You really don’t want people to look at your profile while it’s still empty. Plan to use this feature after you’ve gotten your profile optimized.

How to Find People on Twitter by Using the “Find People” Tab

How to Find People on Twitter by Using the Search Field

This option is on the sidebar of your Twitter home page and is a search function in which you can type keywords. If you type in bookmarketing, for example, you will get the most recent tweets mentioning bookmarketing.

You can also use http://search.twitter.com for the same type of search, and there’s an advanced search option.

How to Find People on Twitter by Using Third-Party Applications

There are several third-party applications that allow you to find people to follow. One such application is:

– functions like Google alerts. You put in keywords you want tracked and you are alerted when tweets mention these keywords. You then click on who sent the tweets and decide if you want to follow that person. (This is my favorite.)

Other Ways to Find People to Follow on Twitter

on subjects that interest you. As you take part in the chat, you’ll find people also participating who you want to follow. (Tweetchats take place in real time – sort of like a giant cocktail conversation with everyone speaking to everyone at once.)

Then there’s the method of following the people who are being followed by the people you’re interested in. In other words, when you follow someone who interests you, go to that person’s profile page and see who that person is following. Click on those people and see if you want to follow them.

Or if someone you are following retweets something of interest from someone you are not following, click through to that person’s profile and decide if you want to follow him/her.

In conclusion, figuring out who you want to follow on Twitter is somewhat like a treasure hunt. You are always on the lookout for people who you want to follow because their interests mesh with yours.

The beauty of Twitter – when you find people you want to follow, you do not have to ask permission to connect. You just click follow. (And if you change your mind later, you can simply choose unfollow.)

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Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is an Internet business consultant whose power marketing website is http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com . If you liked this article, you’ll love her free report on “Power Marketing’s Top 3 Internet Marketing Tips” – download the report now from http://www.TeachMeToUseTwitter.com