"What is this thing called 'social media?'" a friend asked me recently.

I took a deep breath and then launched into an explanation of the three basics– Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn–and how people and companies can benefit from each of them. Her eyes told me that she wasn't really convinced with my explanation.

"I think the best way to summarize what social media is about– it's about connecting," I said. "It's about people connecting with people, whether for personal, social or business reasons."

My friend wanted to know if it was even worth it for her to consider setting up a Facebook or Twitter page. So I shared my story with her. Several years ago, I set up a Twitter page at the urging a friend. I slowly began to build up a network of people that I met through blogs, conferences, socials and just from daily interactions online. Twitter became a great place for another reason as well– it offered me a way to converse with people via the written word. Being deaf has no significance when it comes to communicating in 140 characters or less– except when there are links to audio recordings or videos that aren't captioned–and then I can communicate with those folks to ask for transcripts or captioning.

Social media has brought me so many opportunities to connect with people and businesses in ways that I couldn't have possibly dreamed about before I set up online accounts. For instance, when I saw 66-year-old Judy Myers barefoot water skiing on the Today show, I did a search to try and find a way to connect with her. I reached out to her on Facebook, and she invited me to come to Florida to barefoot water ski with her. Fast forward one year later– Judy is now one of my friends and a great ski buddy. Similar friendships and business deals have resulted from the use of social media. As a mom who works from home, social media has also provided a daily way to stay connected in both personal and professional ways.

Last week, I attended the Social Media Chicago event, which is a great place to connect with those who are movers and shakers in the social media arena. While it's easy to be intimidated by the names of those who are well-known, you'll find that folks like Liz Strauss and Chris Brogan are very down-to-earth and willing to do the very thing they do online: connect with people.

While my friend wasn't quite convinced that she was ready to "expose herself online," I shared another experience of how social media was effective for me recently. I had a ticket snafu with an airline and I couldn't get a satisfactory result via their 800 line. A simple tweet with a request for help directed me to the right person who made an adjustment and sent me on my merry way. Of course, I tweeted my satisfaction and gave kudos to the airline for assisting me.

As for my friend's concern about "exposing herself to the world" via social media– I gave her the same advice that I always follow myself: You're in control of how much you want to share with the world–and don't share anything that you wouldn't want your Grandmother to see.