Professional networking on the internet

The Internet has resulted in many changes in how individuals and companies interact. One fairly recent innovation has been the explosion of social and professional networking sites. Such sites are basically virtual communities where individuals can interact with each other over the Internet in a manner which goes beyond Web pages, text messages, and email. Initial growth in networking sites was focused mainly on social interaction. Focused sites sprang up for almost any topic, including job seeking, dating, music sharing, book reviews, genealogy, video sharing, medical applications, etc. As well there are many sites such as MySpace, FaceBook, or Twitter which target more general social interaction between individuals and groups of "friends" either over the Internet or via communication over mobile phones. More recently, it has been recognized that such sites could serve business purposes, allowing related professionals to network and collaborate. One strong reason that business networking Websites have grown over recent years is the Internet\´s ability to connect people globally and cost effectively. Professional networking sites such as Xing and Linkedln have seen exponential membership growth with millions of member\´s world-wide. In these tough economic times, individuals and businesses need to explore all possible avenues of professional and corporate growth. This paper will describe some of the capabilities, features, and uses of business networking Websites for the pulp and paper professional.