Inbox: Social networking can help you secure a job

Plus: Open source advocates hit back at CIOs and netbooks fail 'fit for work' test

The weekly Inbox column collects the best and most thought-provoking of the reader comments silicon.com receives each week.
The Naked CIO gets some mixed reactions to his views on the redundancy of social networks; open source advocates hit back at CIOs claiming it costs too much to migrate; and readers weigh in on whether netbooks are fit for business.

You can offer your own response to any of these stories or comments by posting a comment below.

Naked CIO: Social networks are useless for finding a job
While social networking sites can be fun for connecting with family and friends, they're no use when it comes to professional networking, says the Naked CIO.

LinkedIn is useful
Not normally disagreeing with your observations, on this occasion I do think that social networking sites do positively provide second tier support in finding a job or just finding out more about a company. The quantity aspects in my opinion do actually increase the usefulness of researching roles, people and locations second tier links can often also be helpful.

This does not preclude quality either, though I'd generally like to add categories to these relationships. Yes take everything said with a pinch of salt, and guard against accepting all regardless.

But linked in gives me access to recruitment agents, who's who in companies I might like to work for, and allows me to keep in touch with good people I've worked with before.
Stuart Fawcett, London

Facebook is not designed for this
It's not the social networks that are the problem; it's the ones you use. I would never use Facebook to find a job; it's simply not what it's structured for. The only serious site where you can with a little effort get real leads to jobs is LinkedIn. It's a known fact head hunters contact people on there - I have been contacted four times in the last two months.
Andrew Peel, Manchester

Popularity contests don't dilute the impact
You raise some great points but I disagree. While many use social networking sites as popularity contests, it doesn't necessarily dilute the power or impact of the networks! They're incredibly powerful as mediums to connect and establish relationships with others in business and, more importantly, in life!
Michael Deutch, San Francisco

LinkedIn has professional relevance
I disagree. Yes, I understand people are connected on social networks without being known to each other but not on all networks. LinkedIn is different as it has more professional relevance. As a head hunter with a big network of other headhunters and the guys I have placed, it helps me in finding even more suitable candidates.
Jameela, Boston

"Social media has use however the business value is diminished"
Couldn't agree more with the Naked CIO on the points noted. If we were to look at social media from the Gartner-esque hype cycle point, social media has use however the business value is diminished simply through the quantity and diversity of users and groups available to social networking groups.

Case in point: a friend who runs a plumbing business asked me to [connect with him on] LinkedIn, however how could I professionally link when our business hardly intersects?

Private, business social networks may have value; only a significantly sized business will have the appetite and capability to create value. However this is nothing new, being witness to early incubator ideas in large service based organisation.
Vik Cafe, UK

No good at finding jobs
Sites like LinkedIn are good for keeping track of old colleagues in this mobile industry. I (unusually) agree with the Naked CIO, that they are not much good for finding jobs. There are some sites not openly publicised which are much better.
Charles Smith, London

Read more comments on this story…

Open source? No good for cost cutting, say CIOs
Despite tough economic conditions, CIOs have not turned to open source software as a way of making their IT budgets go further, according to the CIO Jury.

Misleading
This article and most of the opinions stated are just so misleading. I've performed an extensive office environment simulation of converting from MS Windows and proprietary software to Linux and countless other open source utilities and software, and very little 'training' and 'downtime' was encountered. Linux performed just as well, or even better, than its Microsoft counterpart.
Eugene M, Poland

IT world is divided
The IT world is divided in two on this one. ISPs and internet-related organisations generally run on open source platform with open source enthusiasts running the tech environments.

Then you have the corporate world running on Microsoft platform, maybe with the occasional exception of large databases which may run on *NIX platforms. For this world open source seems to be a no-go area and judged not to align with how things should be done. There is huge prejudice and misconception but seems to be how the world is divided. Those in the ISP/open source world are just as bad - will always create a cross with fore-fingers at mention of Microsoft!
CJP, London

Excuses excuses
Quite frankly what they are doing is making it an excuse. Yes, if you take out something already working and in use and replace it with something else - then it's going to cost. The trick is to take each forced upgrade as an opportunity to look at the alternatives.
Simon, Cumbria

Bloated charges no surprise
No wonder the likes of Microsoft can charge such bloated prices for their products. Their clients get themselves into positions where they cannot negotiate competitive prices.

There's always space for both proprietary and open source software in an organisation. It will show the business users that you have flexibility and will allow them some choice in their cost base.
Charles Smith, London

Think about the future
This thinking that the initial cost of open source is too expensive to make the move.

We have so many short-sighted managers that can't think of anything but today. What about the years on down the road, when your cost will be very low using open source?
Jim, Indianapolis, US

Read more comments on this story…

Can I use a netbook as my everyday work machine? Part II
Netbooks are everywhere - but can they replace your work laptop? silicon.com's Bethan Jones put one to the test.

Fun for a while
That would also be my summary on netbooks. I tried the HP Mini 2133 for a while and although fun etc this did wear off quickly and the screen size started to become the sticking point for me.

I work remotely a lot but also need a screen that I can do things with (code etc.)

For me...the perfect screen size is 13.3 inches. I spent a little more and got the x300 to ensure weight wasn't too much of an issue!
Richard Davies, North Yorkshire

12 inches more realistic
Thanks for this article - very interesting. There are alternatives to a netbook, though. I use an IBM X40 - a slimline laptop with a 12-inch screen. It is slightly smaller than an A4 writing pad, so it fits easily in a reasonable sized bag, and weighs about 1.5kg including the power brick. I use it as my main machine, preferring it to my desktop with a 22-inch screen.

The keyboard is logical, and almost full-sized. When I fly, it goes in my hand baggage alongside everything else I need for three or four days away - no extra laptop bag and the need for checked in luggage. I bought it second-hand for less than a well-specced netbook - I missed out on the "newness" experience but that is a fair trade-off from my point of view.
Jeremy Wickins, Sheffield

Screen size?
Is the problem screen resolution, or just physical size?

I've been holding back until the third wave of netbooks blows through...which has just started...

The nvidia Ion based ones like the Samsung N510 or HP/Compaq Mini 311 where you get a 12-inch screen with full-screen real estate of 1366x768 and some GPUlike accelerated graphics for around £330-375 with about six hours of battery life.

As a personal machine I currently use a Medion 12-inch mini-notebook, which will be replaced by one of these. Like for like, but with some extra grunt.
Anonymous, Birmingham

OS issues
What you've omitted to mention is that this netbook is supplied with XP Home, so you can't logon to your company domain and what about major applications e.g. Office 2007?

OK you can if you've got an awful lot of time download them from MS and register them online, but you can't use the company CD, you need to buy an external USB CD reader. There are other ways of course.

I've got this machine and it is quite nice, though is slow compared to laptops of course. To speed it up you could of course partition and disk and run some version of Linux.
Anonymous, UK

Read more comments on this story…

Please note, comments may be edited for clarity, grammar, spelling, punctuation and style. The views expressed are not necessarily the views of silicon.com. You can write to silicon.com by posting a Reader Comment below…