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For instance, take the phenomena known as “social networking”. Sites like Myspace, Facebook and others seem to attract teenagers like flies to garbage. Out of all the useful information on the web, the most popular among High School and College Age people are social networking sites. One of our customers made the observation to me that the most bandwidth used (this is a measurement of Internet capacity) by their school is to “MySpace” and “Facebook”.

I’m no expert on these sites, but I think I’m finally starting to “get it”. These sites are the new identity of our teens. Before Al Gore invented the Internet (back when I was a teenager), the only way to stand out in the crowd was to develop a uniqueness based on what you wore, what music you listened to, the friends you “hung out” with, etc. In today’s connected world this is still going on, but done more efficiently and on-line for all the world to see. That network of friends we built in high school and college has moved online. Young people are still using dress, music, interests to stand out, but they are doing it in a much more public and indelible way.

So, how does this apply to running a small business? First of all, do you want your employees spending time on Facebook when they should be working? Do you want them wasting your company resources building a “social network”, or building your small business? If you have a company Internet connection (and you should), you also need to regulate how this connection is used. Make you work internet connection used for work related tasks through policy and technical controls.

Another way a small business can use the social networking phenomenon is to make it part of your screening process for new hires. Before you hire a new person, check out their web footprint. “Google” them and also check “facebook” and “myspace”, you may be surprised at the information disclosed there.