There are many good social networks to be a part of, but as I delve deeper into social media and personal branding I’m coming to the conclusion that your blog is becoming more important.

On your blog, you have a direct feed to your readers.  Those readers can be friends as much as it can be potential employers or business contacts.  Your blog can take on more of your characteristics, from the way you write to the theme that presents the information to your readers.

A blog can interact with other social networks, augmented with whatever tools you choose to bring into your branding strategy.  Adding additional communications, video, audio and so on adds more value to your ability to network and share with your community.

The one big thing about viewing your blog as a social network is to remember the social aspect, which infers the interaction in a community.  A blog’s comment system is there to enable the conversation, you are there to help drive the conversation.  If you’re disabling comments because you don’t like some criticism, you may want to take another look.  That feedback could help you grow in ways that aren’t readily apparent.

Also, your blog is your online hub.  Use it to send information to other social networks that you frequent.  It’s also the one place on the Internet that you can make sure people find out about YOU.  You can make sure to let them know how to find you, to find your profiles and networks that you have left profiles, feedback, and articles on throughout the Internet.  From your blog people can download a copy of your resume, talk about your latest work, and so on.  Don’t forget that you can have an easier to remember URL to get to your blog than your profile on any service or social network.

Overall, the advantages of having a blog that you can interact with others is a statement about you.  You took the initiative, you are reaching out, you are placing your ideas in a public forum, you are inviting feedback.  Don’t get me wrong; in phrasing it that way it sounds like The Great You Show – but it doesn’t have to be.  It’s up to you to be able to show it’s really about conversations.

On your blog, and through your interests and reading habits, you will find other bloggers in the same genre and begin to share links and comments with.  This is one of the best ways to grow your network.  No, it’s not like getting 250 ‘friends’ on Facebook in a weekend, but that’s because it’s more valuable.  Having two or three blogging friends is more valuable and powerful than large numbers elsewhere.  Your interaction in the blogosphere with others is what builds that value.  It’s more than any number can represent because it’s real exchange of ideas, real interaction.  And that my friend is social networking.

So what else am I missing?  What else helps make your blog your entry point to social networking?