Omniture posted a nice slide with a breakdown of the domains of social media.

If social media confuses you, this does a great job of clarifying what each realm represents.

The always enjoyable Virginia Heffernan wrote a column this week on how hashtags are changing the conversations on Twitter.

Hashtags are those little keywords prepended with a pound sign – like in this blog post’s title.

They are the subjective, descriptive little tags added by the tweeter as a way to signify what the tweet is about. Think of them like when you tag a photo on Facebook with a person’s name. You’re adding an additional level of searchability to your postings or tweets.

I commonly see handwritten signs at events where the organizers declare the hashtags for their event. This lets everyone attending cluster their comments around what’s happening, and gives the organizers an easy way to monitor the conversations about them.

I’ve even begun writing my name tag as @geofftucker at these events so people can follow me. It still seems to be a subtle, in-the-know thing but people are catching on.

Make a habit of hashtags in all your posts. And hunt down who or what you need using them.

Why?

• Twitter has a smaller audience than job boards
• Twitter is usually a more technically sophisticated group
• Twitter is social media
• Twitter’s free

TwitterJobSearch.com – Twitter Job Search Engine.

The term “expert” is overused and one that begs challenge by its users, aside from a precious few. With the outbound marketing techniques rapidly falling away, many marketers are scrambling to redefine and reposition themselves with new monikers that keep their resumes marketable. The risk, however, is the use of buzzwords that sound great – and the user cannot discuss them meaningfully.

I am surprised at the frequency of marketers I encounter who do not have the technical skills for correctly implementing online marketing efforts. Whereas what mattered before were the paper, inks and mechanical reproduction as key to conveying your brand values, today it’s employing the right keyword structure, proper page coding and using the right monitoring tools. These are no longer the domain of web design workshops. The technology has matured that these are marketers’ tools.

If you can’t examine a web site, an email newsletter or a Twitter tweet and know a good one from a bad one, you are not alone. However, I recommend you quickly educate yourself and find a more informed crowd.

As I implement social media tools today for a freelance client, I see it’s about contributing to the conversation of you – and ensuring that your voice is in concert with your fans. Remember that the conversation shifts with the mood of the crowd. Keep them engaged in an honest, sincere way and they will stay your friend. But learn how to talk WITH them first.

From what we have heard so far, about 15 people found jobs after the January event. And at this last one, I saw many new faces I didn’t see at the first one. That means word is spreading.

We had ~450 confirmations to attend for the February event. That means we are researching new venues around town to host a larger crowd, with a little more breathing room, and easier access to employers and recruiters. Many thanks to 13 Coins Bar for hosting us both times, too.

Join our Facebook group if you haven’t already and stay up to date on future events. It’s just going to grow and get bigger and better.

With the LinkedIn JobsInsider toolbar installed to your browser (Internet Explorer for Windows; Firefox for Windows or Mac), when you visit a job board site a side panel opens. From there, JobsInsider scans the job listing you are reviewing and tells you how many people in your LinkedIn network work there, or know someone who does.

Click on the number of people the JobsInsider says “can help you get this job” to see who these people are. Then start following up and asking questions. It’s a great way to get the inside introduction that bypasses the anonymous job board submission method.

Needed an excuse to make yourself network more, have more conversations and use LinkedIn more often? I can’t think of a better one.

“What IS Twitter?”

“I’m on LinkedIn but I don’t really use it.”

“My son/daughter is on Facebook.” (Implied: “But I’m not.”)

Tonight, I encountered Jobfeedr.com.

What’s Twitter good for then? This is what it’s great for: direct feeds of job postings for select cities (of COURSE Seattle is included) and professions of interest. Straight to you, via your computer or your phone.

Visit it, play with it, and subscribe to the feed relevant to your job search. It’s a straight pipeline, real-time, of job postings as these savvy recruiters post them.

Decide post by post whether to apply rather than  surfing job boards – that drecky old way of finding a job.

As my blog shows, I’ve been reading a lot about social media as it relates to job search. It’s the latest, greatest way gaining adoption as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com fade.

Why the fade? One, they’re no longer the new kid on the block. Two, new technologies are sexier, quicker, better refined. Last, audiences are distinctly more self-selecting than 10 years ago. Just as television fragmented into cable, aggregate sites like job boards are now fragmenting into niche services.

Technology will continue to accelerate everything. And “change” is the game in 2009. Embrace it, run with it, and make it yours.

Looking for a job? Use Twitter | Jeff McCord’s Blog.

How Social Media Can Land You A Job!

A great primer on the how-to, the why and the return on incorporating social media tools like Twitter into your life. Build your personal brand, expand your company’s brand, have discussions. Follow great contributors for as-it-happens topics you enjoy.