Social networks at work: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em

We live in interesting times. According to Gartner (NYSE: IT) Research VP Robert Anderson, if all the people on the MySpace virtual community banded together, they'd form the eighth largest country in the world. Never before in history could people create such large communities and communicate so readily as they can today, thanks to the social networking environment. New Web 2.0 technologies are changing the course of history and are certainly changing the way we work and play.

My kids and most of my younger work colleagues love social networks such as Facebook. It's where they network, mentor, empathize, sympathize, encourage and amuse each other. My octogenarian mother also likes Facebook because she can see at a glance what is going on with the family (scattered around the world), without writing letters or waiting for them to call.

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