Those that feel social networking is primarily a fun tool for self expression and online interest clubs are missing the full potential. Contributing to community social network affords unique business opportunity in a casual social setting where you can discover what prospective clients value, enough to influence your brand.

Companies are generating leads, creating new revenue possibilities, and checking backup reference data using Social Networking Services such as Multiply, Plaxo, Linked In, and Ryze. Collaboration is key, and it might take a few different vehicles to set the stage. Interesting utilities have been created to talk amongst each other, but nothing to really extend or explore the capabilities on other social networking.

Suddenly the Social Network steps up to recognizing its richer capabilities-- easy to create data for social networking be that- contact management, company and individual profiles, shareable/reuseable across systems.

Profiles can be consistenly managed. Contacts made, can be imported and exported easily in systems.. A few leaders get it, but they are still striving for unique definition instead of collaboration! When social networking is as convenient and as open as the net it rides on, we will have truly arrived.

It has been easy to make useful connections with ITIL practioners who were as interested as I in sharing what works. By far, LinkedIn and Ryze are my favorite social networks for identifying jobs that can help others, best practices in my industry, and to create opportunities in my civic volunteering activities.

Several Yahoo Groups were created to extend the specialities of Linked In. A LinkedIn LIONS (Linked In Open Networking) Yahoo Group allowed people to register their interests and connect to others. This created a foundation for more specialty interest groups in Yahoo that extended ones capabilities for "Linking In" like LinkedIn Power Women, LinkedIn IT (Information Technology).

Yahoo affords some social networking using the combination of it's 360 personal profile/blog plus Yahoo Groups, but is much more "publically introspective" with less business function. Yahoo Groups when you can find them can be useful drop in an learn, share, network, but it is alot more difficult to get the meaningful relationship with out a personal context that you can gain about who you are speaking with from a profile like is present on LinkedIn.

Perhaps it is just personal preference but the dozens of others I have samples simply were not as user friendly as others, nor have they produced customers or useful information. Although it has a profile and a networking system, it does not appear as easy to relate to others as you can from a LinkedIn Profile and a Yahoo Group. Now the company that realizes the profit potential is well beyond the dating scene, will start producing a suite of connectivity services that play well with others! Exportable, Sharable profiles across systems using xml, with PDA synchable address books, registry, and user controlled profile/network preferences.

FEEDBACK: What are your favorite Social Networking Utilities? Why? Have you expectations of the type of information, resource, or connection you make?