Ben Parr of Mashable writes a very exciting post today for those who currently have and hope to find a job in social media, myself included. Ben discusses the current popular status of social media jobs, and his outlook for the near future. Ben writes:

“Even if the title changes, the role of the social media marketer or manager is not going anywhere. Building community, reaching out to potential customers, building stronger relationships, creating buzz - they are fundamental goals to every company. So long as people use social media to share their thoughts and their complaints, the need for people to fill social media jobs will continue to grow.”

This is good news. For one, it validates that social media as a whole is very valuable to marketers, and will figure to be increasingly prevelant as more of us social media junkies get hired and do our trade. Social media should continue to grow despite the weak economy and fact that many companies are slashing marketing spending. Why? Most social media opportunities are free, or very inexpensive. Even hiring just one coordinator to run your blogs and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook is much more cost effective at establishing relationships with consumers than blowing tens of thousands of dollars on a local cable spot, for example.

Additionally, consumers are much more price sensitive today and look to the internet for price saving information. Social media has the opportunity to inform consumers of sales and discounts via microblogging updates,(see Dell’s Outlet on Twitter) and keep loyal customers involved through blogs and social networking sites. Add the fact that people are staying at home more due to high gas prices, consumers will be spending more time online-which means more face time with your brand.

Note: Parr’s post provides a link to a Jeremiah Owyang post that is an unbelieveable resource of social media professionals and the companies that employ them. Jeremiah also has some pretty good links for job seekers and employers looking to connect; see them here.

I’m a pretty big fan of Facebook- not so much the company itself, but more so the interactions I have with my friends on the site. I don’t really have a ton of applications, and it was even a stretch for me adding Bumper Stickers, although I enjoy them now. That said, I’m sure you can think of someone who is really obsessed with FBook, has an obscene amount of apps and is a self-professed Facebook Creeper.

This video, taken from Current, cracks my shit up. It really plays into how obsessed people are/can get with Facebook, and puts it in a very entertaining form. Enjoy.

I don’t have a job that requires me to be online all day or to write blogs or browse social networks (in fact, I have no job whatsoever!), but I do all of these things anyways. Most of my online time is probably spent learning, which comes from reading blogs and news and seeing what people are talking about on Twitter. A big chunk of time is spent job searching on job boards and agency sites. Then of course I spend some time working on AdSponge and Facebook. Oh, and I am connected all the time through my internet friendly iPhone. Becoming disconnected for me can be a difficult task.

Larissa Fair from the Buzz Bin offers a list of ways to achieve balance between your online life and the rest of your life. Most of her tips are pretty obvious, like leaving your laptop at work and avoiding Twitter. I guess for me, it depends who I am with that changes my online habits. If I’m with friends or family or in a social setting, then the iPhone will stay in my pocket. Also, I try to save at least one day a week to be completely disconnected, usually Sunday.

Most of my friends will say I’m online more than anyone they know, but isn’t that a good thing?

There’s no debating that social media is hot right now, with sites like Facebook and Twitter dominating in the blogosphere. But there is still skepticism as to the true value of these sites to marketers, and even whether some of these sites have business models to make money and survive. This article by Cyrus Afzali on Talent Zoo dives into the subject of marketers determining if social media sites really are valuable. Check out the article, although Afzali is a little down on the prospect, he does a good job of showing both sides of the social media story.

Just installed this new app on Facebook called Blog It. Basically, it allows you to update several of your blogs and social networking sites at one time. For me, I can update my Facebook status and Twitter account in one attempt. Also, I can post to my Wordpress account, which I’m doing now. It’s a little limited, still figuring out how to add pics and video.