I’ve had the wonderful opportunity these past few months to lead a group of coworkers in educating the company I work for in social networking and social media. Social networking has become a powerful medium for me. But what is the deal with social networking? Why are companies and individuals becoming so interested in this and what does social networking really mean?

I’m not an expert on social networking but what I am is someone who is actively involved in it. Wikipedia defines social networking as a social network for communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. I like to define social networking as the foundation that attracts and holds like-minded individuals together. Social media, on the other hand, is the format or the substance that adds value to the foundation (social networks). The two go hand in hand but surprisingly to most “novices,” social media and social networking are not the same thing. One is a part of the other but both are separate in nature.

The best way I know how to write about these topics is to give my own personal story. As most of you know, I started this blog in late 2007. The reason I started my own blog was because I got involved in a few social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Friendfeed) and I became “friends” with so many unique and wonderful people that I instantly wanted more. So what better way to evolve than to create my own forum in my own social network: my personal blog. Some of the social networking sites that grabbed my attention then allowed me to share different forms of media (mainly videos) so that I could connect to the audience I wished to connect. It then snowballed when I got the opportunity to meet my two favorite podcasters, Neal Campbell and Cali Lewis and I got to be on The Neal Show a couple of times.

Like I wrote earlier, I also got the opportunity to get involved in social networking/social media with my employer, a top ten digital advertising agency here in Dallas. This new opportunity allowed me to formally educate myself on the newest and hottest trends in social networking. As most know, I’m a professional recruiter by day so I also got the opportunity to create some profile sites for the recruiting team I work with. I then decided that we could recruit top-notch talent by getting more and more involved in particular social networks and that’s been a great success not only in finding the people we want, but also getting our brand out to the world. And now I’m currently working a few freelance opportunities as well as getting the opportunity to be a weekly writer on CultureFeast.com! So social networking has literally changed my life in such a short amount of time.

So why is this important? Well, my friends, social networking is literally the way of the future. Whether is communicating daily to friends across the world on Twitter or uploading home videos on Vimeo or sending out your latest geotagged “what’s going on” on Brightkite, social networks and social media are here to stay! Also, don’t forget my post on why your reputation is SO important when it comes to social networking sites… for my post on Reputation 2.0, click here.

So tell me your story. What got you here to my blog? Do you know me on a social network? Did you find me from some of my personal social media? Let me know how you found me in the comments below!