It's about sharing

I believe that social networking tools in general can be divided into three categories. Tools for:

• Connecting
• Sharing
• Collaborating

When I talk to people about using the tools for sharing, I always emphasize that you may not have information to share, but that you may want to find and use information that others have shared. For example:

• Use a photo sharing serve to find photos that relate to a topic of interest. An example is that I was interested in photos of technology that people are using. People do take photos of their technology and put them online. (Check out the group of photos called "What's in Your Bag?")
• Use SlideShare.net to locate presentations on topics of interest to you.
• Use blog search engines (e.g., Google, Technorati) to find blogs and blog posts on topics that are interest. There are many serious bloggers who talk about business and technical topics, and who have very up-to-date information.
• Use YouTube to find short instructional videos or videos that show something that you need to know. For example, you may be interested in Second Life, but don't want to explore it directly. You could, instead, look at YouTube videos that demonstrate the power of that virtual world (example).
• Use LibraryThing to read what others have said about a book before buying it or recommending it to someone else.
  

Don't be afraid to think creativity about how to approach your information need through social networking tools. Run searches in the tools to see what information they contain that will pertain to your need (and be sure to use alternate words/terms). If you find nothing, at least you tried. However, you may be very surprised to find information that is very useful to you.