We were privileged yesterday to have several UMass journalism alumni back to campus to talk with students about careers. They included Eric Athas, who's a producer at washingtonpost.com, and Elisa Thomas, creative director for Jack Morton.

The question came up of whether social media like Twitter and Facebook are really here to stay, and what technologies were going to "stick," meaning that they'll still be with us in five years. The answer? Yes (they are here to stay), and "it doesn't matter whether it's going to stick in five years, because people are using it to get information out now."

Mid-career women, or those within 15 years of retirement, may  think this is just a fad and they don't need to get into the game on new technologies. But this is a huge mistake, and guarantees that you'll be at the top of the list when layoff time comes.

Here's an archived conversation from washingtonpost.com with career advisor (and miscarriage tweeter) Penelope Trunk about online social networking and how you use it in your career. As you can see from following her on Twitter, there is actually very little she doesn't share, including this good news.

A snippet of her online advice is posted here, but you should really read the whole conversation. Only if you want to get, or keep, a job.

Silver Spring: What do you see as the specific strengths/weaknesses of each of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for someone trying to expand their personal online presence or brand?

Penelope Trunk: LinkedIn is great for knowing who your friends know. It's also great for displaying yourself if you have tons of great experience that will impress everyone. That's why the average person on LinkedIn is older, and making a lot of money.

Facebook is good for connecting with family and friends who you already know and have a personal relationship with. The nature of Facebook is closed -- it's not for meeting people you don't know. It's for connecting with people you already are close to.

Twitter is good for meeting new people who are like you. You can sort easily for people who are doing quick updates about topics you're interested in. Twitter is limited, though, because of the character count, so building strong relationships from twitter often requires moving onto a social network or a blog.

I feel compelled here to mention my own company, BrazenCareerist.com, which is a good place to connect with people professionally about ideas. A good way to think about Brazen Careerist is that LinkedIn focuses on experience and Brazen Careerist focuses on ideas. If you are young and short on experience, ideas is a better bet for you.

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Vienna, Va. : I find online networking is good to have fun for a while -- but it needs a lot of upkeep -- for a person like me who barely has time to clear her inbox, it is way too much work!

Penelope Trunk: Spend less time on your in box because only one person reads each email you send. Spending time on social media is more cost-effective because you connect with multiple people at a time.

Today more than 75% of all Internet communication is through social networks. You are going to be a dinosaur if you don't find time to do that.

Your financial stability and your personal stability are dependent on you having the ability to get a the type of job you need when you need it. The way to get that sort of career power is to use social media. So you better start making time.

And here's Guy Kawasaki on How to Tailor Social Media Apps to Your Business.

(Got the above link from following Guy on Twitter. Who are you following these days? Share!)

                                                       --BJ Roche