Long gone are the days of only doing SEO work to promote your website. Long gone are the days of only using email to connect with others Pole Assassin. And long gone are the days of only visiting CNN.com to get your news. It's pretty clear that the hottest new trend on the web to communicate is Social Media.

From Tweet's to Wiki's and Digg's to Vid's, there is absolutely no stopping this conglomeration of social connections that feed into your life...unless of course, you're behind the rest. But if you are, don't worry. I have compiled a list of the top 10 things you should know about social media and why they are important. Whether you're trying to promote a business or simply connecting with friends, these tips will help.

1. Explore - Get to know about many of the social media websites before just creating accounts all over the net. Visit the site, play around a little, and decide whether it's something that you think will be useful or not. Will you come back frequently? Does it pertain to you? or is it only for a certain group of people (ex. Realtors)?

2. Stay Current - Social Media is constantly changing. The most important thing you can do is know whats going on and where social media is heading. There are always new apps being developed and new tools to communicate and spread information.

3. Update Frequently - In the Social Media world, nobody cares about yesterdays news. Sites like Twitter show us that constant updates are necessary to keep others interested. Whatever networks you belong to, make sure you are updating frequently and sharing new information.... even if it's once a day. If you are using social media for promotional reasons make sure your updates are genuine. Do not constantly update just for the sake of having more content.

4. Be Yourself - The greatest thing about Social Media is that it has personality. Whether your writing blog posts, commenting on somebody's wall, or updating your Twitter status make sure you are giving your content personality. Being personable helps gain traction because this sort of content tends to be more interesting and exclusive.

5. Use Visuals - When trying to communicate through social media outlets use as many visual pieces as possible. The majority of people like to look at images and watch video much more than reading plain text. Sites such as YouTube and Flickr can be utilized to both manage and share your images and videos.

6. Reach Out - When trying to spread any type of content across the web the help of others is always important. Reach out to other individuals such as bloggers to help share your information. Commenting on others social media posts can also help the reach-out process.

7. Utilize Applications - There are many applications that are offered for social media networks. Applications can help you be more efficient & interactive within a given social network. When adding an application, make sure you know what it does before you start using it so you don't make the mistake of sharing information with the wrong people.

8. Stay Organized - With so many social media networks on the web, you may get a little lost. Make sure to keep track of all your accounts in a spreadsheet. You can also use apps such as Ping.fm to update multiple social network accounts at once.

9. Make A Blog - Blogger and WordPress are great sites that make it easy to set up your own blog. If you are not a good writer use images, videos, etc. to get your point across. When blogging, be casual yet informative. This way people get the scoop and a taste of the "real you" ...it makes for a great combo for viewers!

10. Create a Following Through Trust - Get yourself and your content in the spotlight by creating a following of people. Whether you have personal information you're sharing or trying to promote a large business, it is important to have a following of people who care about what you have to say. Creating trustworthy content is the best way to create and keep a following. Fans, friends, and others are only going to revisit your new and fresh content if it is accurate and honest. DO NOT, attempt to spam people through Social Networking. The best piece of advice I have is, the more friends or followers you have does not mean the more people you have viewing your content but rather the better quality that your content is the more friends and followers you will have.