The document discusses the author's use of social networking for both professional and personal purposes. The author separates their social networking use into "social work" using tools like Twitter and LinkedIn to stay connected professionally, and personal social media use. Some of the key benefits the author cites for professional social networking are staying informed of news and issues, accessing ideas and content they otherwise wouldn't be able to, networking for funding opportunities, and communicating with staff and others. The author argues that as information professionals, understanding how to use social media is now a necessity rather than just having access to the technology.