In scanning my feed reader this morning, social media and networking took center stage.

According to a new study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), 65 percent of business professionals are now plugged in to personal and professional social networking sites like LinkedIn—which is the leading networking site amongst the business crowd.

Other notable figures:

• 52 percent of respondents whose organizations use social networking sites do so to connect their internal and offsite employees
• 55 percent of plugged in organizations do so to share best practices
• 47 percent of respondents use the sites to connect with potential business partners and showcase their skills
• Among repondents who do not currently use social networks, 37 percent said they simply don't know which networks to use

Nice stats, you might be thinking. But I'm still not sure what benefits a social networking site would yield. i4cp's senior VP, Jay Jamrog took the words right out of my mouth:

Companies and employees have often gravitated to trade associations and shows for one primary benefit: community. Social networks have opened a new dynamic in bringing that community online, and the ability to share what’s working and what isn’t in real time is invaluable to many employees today.

Some of us at InsureMe (including Jeb and I) recently joined LinkedIn. Despite my preliminary hesitation of joining up, it looks pretty cool. Account sign-up is free; check it out this afternoon and see for youself what all the fuss is about.

[Related]:
Should You Get Into Social Media Marketing
Part One | Part Two