Online networking has two sides

By now, you have probably heard the cautions about employers checking Facebook, MySpace and personal blogs for more complete pictures of job applicants than resumes might suggest. Be sure to take the time to clean up your pages before you enter the job market. Here is a good article to help you avoid sending an unintended message to an employer.

The other side of personal online pages, however, is that they can be used as effective networking tools. Barack Obama has more than 3.7 million "supporters" on his Facebook page and more than 1 million MySpace friends. Law firms are creating Facebook pages (see one here, e.g) and PSLawnet.org has a page as well. Consider these tips from About.com (which has its own Facebook page) on how to use Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn (which was created as a professional networking vehicle) to develop a positive professional network.