A strong social media presence, good or bad, can be hard to ignore. But when it comes to the professional world, it's often seen as nothing more than a counterproductive distraction. 

But does that always have to be the case? 

Here's four ways social media can actually enhance your career, not hinder it. 
 

1.You can create your personal brand 

Do you want potential employers to know you're in tune with current affairs? Someone who keeps up to date with the industry they work in? Someone who engages intelligently with other expert opinions on a regular basis? Social media is the perfect way to demonstrate that. 

But it's not just about automating a few tweets and liking a few news stories relevant to your industry. It's also a great chance for you to show off those extracurricular activities. 

Into sports? Love travelling? Got an interesting hobby? Let the world know about! The personal profile section of your CV isn't going to cover everything about you, but your social media profile can help paint a much more vivid picture. By the way, going to the pub is not what we mean by extracurricular activities. Sorry...

You can use it to network 

It's likely all the important people in your industry are on social media in some capacity. With a platform like Twitter, you're just an @ away. 

But it's not just about your potential boss.

There's hundreds, if not thousands of like-minded, innovative people out there, offering their expert opinions and searching for business opportunities. People who can inspire you, and people you can inspire! 

It's a valuable news source

The old adage was that anything written on the internet had to be taken with a particularly hefty pinch of salt - but nowadays, social media is the leading (and crucially credible) news source among younger generations.

Whether it's about local plans to improve train services for your morning commute, or international news stories on the state of the economy, a professional mindset will always have their ears to the ground.

The workforce of tomorrow is going to get its news from social media. Make sure you do too. 

You might as well take control of what's out there! 

It's common knowledge that most employers will at least carry out a quick social media screening of a candidate before they consider them. Officially or otherwise. 

And unless you've never ever had a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Myspace, Bebo or any other kind of social media page, you can be sure you'll crop up somewhere online. 

You can let those old embarrassing photos of a lads holiday stand as your only sign of an online presence, or you can bury it with a strong, professional and up-to-date social media presence instead. The choice is yours!