Social networking sites, which were earlier considered to be a domain only for teenagers, are increasingly being used as an important tool for building professional relationships and businesses.

According to a survey conducted by reppler.com (a social media monitoring website), 91% of recruiters visited a potential employee's online profile as part of the recruitment procedure and 69% rejected the applicants on the basis of the content found on their online profile.

However, 68% of them also hired prospective candidates on the basis of their presence on social networking sites.

Here are some tips to communicate professionally through social networking sites.

1) Avoid malicious content : What is there on the web stays on the web - Never post malicious content. Always check your posts for grammatical errors. Keep private conversations strictly private.

2) Watch your language : Always maintain consistency in your tone of language. Check the words you use most often. Do you want to relate your personality with these words?

3) Check your post : If a lot of your posts on your Facebook profile are from a game application, do you want your prospective employers to see that?

4) Likes should be ‘likeable’ : Check which pages you associate yourself with on a social networking website. Google yourself -- would you like to associate yourself with the sites that are first on Google's list?

5) Build your credibility : It is important to build your credibility. Ask your seniors and previous employers for recommendations. Join groups which will add different dimensions to your online personality.

6) Never lie professionally : Always give true details about your professional qualifications.

7) Profile update : Always keep your profile updated.

Source : TOI