Social Media hiring -a passing fad?

I am forever on the lookout for great talent for my clients.

An incorrigible optimist, and a die hard recruiter, I think I have been amongst the early adopters of  every 'next big mousetrap' -for close to two decades now. Trying to hangout where the 'prospects' are likely to be -offline initially (you know the networking events, conferences, trade shows, company canteens,  et al ?)..and online since the past dozen odd years. And believe me- it isnt just being on the bandwagon..but trying to make things happen by constantly experimenting...

-Have been a Linkedin User since April 2004!! (Just checked -my membership number is 457254..meaning I was (am) amongst the first half million users..of a network that today boasts of 160 million professionals!).  As a person who strongly believes in the power of collaboration, you can bet -technically I have a fairly large reach if you were to reckon the network statistics upto my 3rd connections :)!!

-Have been blogging-although intermittently of late- for over 5 years now, with this blog having completed over a lakh page views last year..

- Have been fairly fast off the block -on other social networking platforms too..ryze(remember??), orkut, ning, ...and more recently facebook, twitter, googleplus..to be abreast with what's happening on those platforms too-before laziness got better of me. I guess I am guilty of using applications like tweetdeck and hootsuite to simultaneously post messages on different media..before it dawned on me that I need to be communicating differently on each of those media &!%% :)!

I must confess-  I suspect just being on these platforms doesn't guarantee any results. Or being looked at as a mere disseminator of information! It takes a lot more time -to stay tuned, with the dynamic changes the online world seems to be pacing at, and respond and review the exchanges-before one can even engage people..forget about influencing ...

So, is the ROI in social media justified..is indeed a million dollar question that I would not even wager to debate.

(I am convinced..that the cost of NOT being on social media is much higher !! )

Or is it?
By the way, I haven't renounced the traditional ways of sourcing..as a multi pronged effort only enhances the efficiency..and so will probably keep at it-not knowing what makes me more efficient :)!

Yes, I keep browsing job portals too..for reasons different. Believe me- I dont expect our target candidates to be on any jobsite-or even if she/he is- I am positive she/he would not normally be looking actively for a job -and if so..doubt if she/he will be one I wd want to depend on :)!! 

And so- these posts must be seen essentially as a part of a campaign to spread the awareness of such an opportunity -among the ecosystem -to try and increase the funnel of influence...

Am I missing the wood from the trees?? Would love your thoughts/comments/feedback!!

PS :Better still, do you think you could help me with a little experiment? Am trying to evaluate the power of the social reach...

Please visit this job posting, and help me reach out to as many folks as you are connected to...and share it on Linkedin, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter!!

Thanks! Shall keep you updated with my learnings..