I sat in on a pretty interesting webcast today sponsored by Fidelity Investments and hosted by InvestmentNews. The topic: Advisers and LinkedIn.

While the roundtable style conversation got off to a slow start (sorry!), the panelists seemed to find their respective grooves after a while, and some rather memorable insight was shared. Now granted, this wasn’t the first time someone has said this, but I got a kick out of this comparison offered by @RussThornton:

“Facebook is the backyard barbeque, Twitter is the water cooler and LinkedIn is like the chamber of commerce.”

I can’t help but agree. Facebook is a place for you to share updates, stories and the like with friends, family and new folks in a casual and laid-back environment. There’s even a way to send someone a digital hotdog with mustard and relish! Twitter is where you can make a few bold statements throughout the day to keep people updated and get them thinking—and talking. It’s a break from the routine that keeps your mind fresh. Just like when I was filling my plastic cup this afternoon and told a co-worker that I wanted to write a song called “Social Ladies,” which goes, “if you like it then you shoulda put a blog on it” (it would go platinum; you know it would).

Ahem, that leads us to LinkedIn, the chamber of commerce. Professional, informative and focused, this forum is often seen as go-to social platform for companies or individuals in the financial industry—and that makes sense. When you are looking for the facts and the nitty-gritty behind a potential client or partner, LinkedIn offers you the details you need, without their incredible lyrical skills.

So the question I leave you with is this: where do you fit in? Are you a grill-master that prefers to pull up a seat at the picnic table and gab away? Or do you fancy yourself a clever and industry-savvy chatter box, hanging by the cooler waiting for the next person to walk up and benefit from your witty wisdom? Perhaps you prefer the more modest party – suit, tie, pressed shirt and a nice business card?

Maybe you’re all of the above, in which case, you’ve probably got some status updating to do. Well, get to it then.