When I was younger, my parents limited the time that I spent on the Internet. At that time, of course, I wasn't doing anything important; I was just instant messaging my friends, making my AIM profile look pretty, and writing about what happened in school hour-by-hour on Xanga.

Now that I'm older with my own laptop, I have no limit to the time I spend online. However, I don't use the Internet for the same activities. Instead, I read the news, read blogs, write, and of course...keep up with my friends and the online community with Twitter and Facebook.

At first, it seemed that these websites, among other social media sites, were to be used solely for keeping up with family and friends. The purpose of these sites, however, has completely changed.

This tweet caught my eye. It included an article called Social media skills become crucial for job hunters. Coincidentally, I stumbled upon this CNN article, 5 jobs for Facebook addicts, that same afternoon. Obviously, if you know how to work with social media, you are a step ahead in the job market.

Social media has become important in today's business world, so much that websites like Twitter have to produce "guides" to help their users understand how to get the best out of what the site offers: Twitter 101 for Businesses -- A Special Guide. Some companies are even hiring to have people tweet for them. (see The Bad Pitch Blog -- Paid Third-Party Twitter Tweets).

It's interesting how things change.

(and I love that the hours and hours I've spent on Facebook, Twitter, and blogging haven't gone to waste.)

Feel free to comment, and thanks for reading.