Staying connected - in the right way

Professionals today are connected without effort. We are bombarded with email, pinged by messages, and occasionally interrupted by phone calls. Business and personal networks encourage you to share everything you do with people you barely know and with whom you are only tangentially connected. One of the more prominent professional networks constantly encourages me to connect with people who know people who might remember me (think six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon). But are you really connected professionally? Your company (or university) probably offers networking opportunity on their intranet. Mine has created network communities based on my department, technology, product line, and even social diversity. There are knowledge bases, councils focused on tools, and research sharing centers.