Most of the talk around social media is about how you can raise your online profile, be more visible, and build your network. However, there is another side of social media – the one that makes you smarter. The following are six tips for using social media to your advantage.

1. Follow, friend and link up with smart people. Smart people share interesting and informative articles over social media. Don't just limit yourself to following people in your industry; follow experts who write about local business, the economy, innovation, marketing, entrepreneurship, management, and leadership.

2. Use Twitter search like a pro. Want to know the latest about what's going on? Get to know Twitter search and you can find real time information. Located at the top of any twitter page, you can search for relevant industry terms like #CRE to find out what people are saying about the commercial real estate industry. Since #CRE by itself might yield too much information, you can hone down your search by adding your city, state or specialty like Hotels or REITs. Hash tag marks (#) are used to clarify that they are a category tag.