LinkedIn Groups - worth exploring

I've been on on LinkedIn for several years but have not used the people search / networking aspect of it much.  I can see its value in the commercial world and a lot of the companies I have been talking to recently use this part of it a lot.  However, what I find really useful are the Groups which are set up around specific areas of interest.  Some of the debates and information which people contribute to have been very helpful in my work.  One of the problems with other similar online communities of interest is that they often end up being used by members to tout their companies and services which can be a turn off for other users. Although this does happen on some of the LinkedIn groups I belong to it is not a major problem and the value of the information posted usually outweighs this minor inconvenience.  The discussion on the Future Social Media group pictured here has been particularly useful for me.

If you haven't checked out LinkedIn Groups yet I would recommend having a browse of what is available. If you cannot find anything to match your interests you can even start one up yourself.