So I took a week off. Yup, an entire week of no internet. Let me tell you—it was a mess. I tried to engage in small talk and do all those things that people do when they aren’t tweeting, sending Facebook messages, commenting, or emailing. Then I realized—I couldn’t remember what that was exactly.

So much of my day is spent connecting with other people, whether that be old friends, bi-coastal collaborators, or new followers. My week away from connecting got me to thinking, “Are connections the new currency of the online world?” Does it decide how important we are? Where as before, perhaps it was the traffic volume to our sites, or the ranks of our pages? Instead, now do the number of our LinkedIn recommendations, number of Facebook friends, and number of Twitter RTs determine how valuable we are? I think so. 

This isn’t to say that high numbers are always best. The quality of your connections will always be a key factor in the new Connection Algorithm that has begun to surface, but it’s clear—the wider your circle, the better off you are. While I was gone, an old colleague of mine, forwarded over—As The Economy Sours, LinkedIn’s Popularity Grows, published by TechCrunch, which reiterates this with a few key stats:

(According to the latest January data from comScore)

• LinkedIn’s U.S. unique visitors shot up 22 percent to 7.7 million, up from 6.3 million in December. 
• Total minutes spent on the site doubled in January to 96.8 million, from 47.6 million in December.

People aren’t just signing up to have a presence anymore. People are viewing these networks as a priority use of their time. That’s quite a change from the days when we all sat around asking, “Do social networks even have value?” Not only is it painstakingly clear that these networks have value, but the overall obsession with connecting has taken over our days.

It has become the catchall answer, and a great one at that. Need a job? Build out your connections. Need a business partner? Build out your connections. Need guidance? Build out your connections. And so on, and so forth. 

In fact connecting isn’t just about answering your personal needs anymore but has transformed into a bankable business plan for companies. Lee Odden touched on this in his post—Best Recession Marketing Investment? Relationships, where he wrote, “As companies decide where to invest their limited marketing resources, there is a distinct opportunity to focus on investing in relationships: with their customers, prospects, employees and business partners.”

Although I blog primarily for a career site, I spend the majority of my day focusing not on employment stats and job resources, but instead on social networks. I am one of the millions that has taken the leap from posting photos and wall messages to increasing my personal currency with global connections to great minds, writers, thinkers, and personalities.

Whether you are the CEO of a company, a job seeker, or just someone looking to reach higher…you simply can’t afford to ignore the power of adding to your Connection Currency. This is no longer disputable; in fact I’d say this is the primary driving force behind the social media rollercoaster we are all riding. In a time that is so unclear, with old mantras and business approaches being thrown out the window, it may just be time to jump on the bandwagon. Check out what networks work for your needs, and start utilizing them. As we all know, 2009 is going to be a bumpy ride, so hang on tight, or better yet--start shaking hands.