The 7 Best Jobs for Facebook Addicts

Pity the college kids who are readying themselves for the boredom of working in an office where online profile views are sharply limited or not allowed. Don't they know that there are jobs that demand this stuff? More and more employers are scouting for social networking skills and trying to fill positions that require daily Facebook diligence. And it's not all Silicon Valley—the Securities and Exchange Commission just started Twittering.

This is not a dream, folks. The Facebook future is now. Here are the seven best jobs for a Facebook addict:

Recruiter: The job hunt has in many, many ways gone digital. Boris Epstein, CEO and founder of BINC, a search firm that fills tech positions, has made it a priority to know his way around social networks and be an active Web 2.0 participant. Epstein is on Facebook; so are his company and his employees. They're all on LinkedIn and active on the company's Twitter account, as well as its corporate blog. "If we relied solely on phone and E-mail, we'd become recruiting dinosaurs in no time," Epstein says.

Sarah Lacy, cohost of Yahoo's Tech Ticker and author of Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0, says companies that are successfully using social networking to recruit college graduates are often choosing to make one individual their advocate or personality on Facebook or LinkedIn. Successful recruiters make the process friendly and humane: "They might say, 'Look, we're interested in this skill set: Maybe go do this, and you can come back,' " Lacy says. "Someone who's really being helpful and not cramming a marketing message down these kids' throats."

Social media marketing manager: Social media managers didn't exist a decade ago, but companies are looking for individuals to guide their Web 2.0 efforts—to organize company blogging, online communities, viral marketing, podcasting. It's part strategist, part evangelist, and it requires a real knowledge of social networking sites.

For recent college graduates who have a sound base of Web 2.0 savvy, those skills should be a good selling point to employers. "Overall, it's become increasingly more important for nearly every position, marketing in particular," says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. About a year ago, social networking skills were sought after merely as tools in recruiting, but the bigger driver now is in companies' networking and connecting, Haefner says.

Photographer: If you make your living with a camera, then there's no better way to market yourself than to show off your product. Social networks are no-brainers for photographers: They can post their photos, connect through blogs, and start groups, all of which will help build their brand and spread their name.

Ventures aimed at the E-commerce opportunities for photography have proved less than successful, says Lacy, whose husband is a photographer. "There's something about buying art online that doesn't work," she says. It's the online relationship-building that works for artists. Social networks allow them to have connections with their appreciators—or, literally, groupies, if you've got a Facebook group—and reach new customers.

Analyst—User Operations: It's a long title, sure, but keep reading: "Deep understanding of Facebook required." How do you like that as a job requirement? User operations analysts at Facebook interact with users to investigate abuse reports and answer queries. They may be charged with enforcing the terms of use or analyzing user habits.

The bonus here is that you don't need fancy tech credentials. You may, however, benefit from fluency in a second language. Of course, if you don't like interacting with people, as Valleywag points out, you may not enjoy this gig.