How many times have you handed out your business card in the past year? By comparison, how many times have you met someone at an event in a meeting and then, when you got back to your computer or right from your phone, you friended them on Facebook, followed them on Twitter, or linked up with them on LinkedIn?

Making connections via social media is the modern-day equivalent of exchanging business cards — and that means your online friend and follower lists are your new Rolodex. If you’re using social media, you already know the benefits of this new system: It’s searchable, immediate, and a helluva lot more fun than filing in and alphabetizing those little cards.

And you never have to worry about updating your files when they move jobs or change phone numbers. They’ll take care of that for you. Forget someone’s name at a party and dread having to mutter the “faces not names” excuse? Just look up that person’s friends or company online and — voila! — up pops their face, name attached. Heck, if they’re important enough that you should acknowledge their birthday, you don’t even have to know that; Facebook will alert you to the big day!

Here’s the rub: When you meet someone you want to stay in touch with, you still have to take the step of going back to your computer and following or friending them. If you don’t, your online "Rolodex" is going to look a lot like my 1980s version does now: stale and outdated.