Relationships made on Twitter can easily be transferred to other social networking sites like Facebook for easier network management once you have amassed a collection of useful contacts. Information is free-flowing, helpful, and unbelievably useful.

You would do yourself a huge disservice not to take advantage of this unique avenue. Many third-party applications exist to make the most out of Twitter and of the community, most are more than willing to help a newbie navigate the system and introduce you around to like-minded individuals.

#3: Financial blog feeds via RSS or email
A tech friend of mine insists that email is not meant for newsletters, or alerts, or blog subscriptions, but I absolutely disagree. When sorted in your inbox correctly, a few well-written quality posts can not only keep you informed but keep you out of the endless noise of media sites and blogs jam-packed with misinformation. If you're at all like me, you enjoy the daily random injection of posts from blogs you follow between business meeting requests, supply orders, and endless marketing chains.

Find a few trusted writers whose message you enjoy, check out their story and make sure they are qualified to offer their opinion, and subscribe! That's it! You don't have to comb through an endless amount of depressing and possibly incorrect information to get the real scoop on where the economy is headed. Just line up a reliable set of sources and check them as often as you care to via RSS or get every new post hand-delivered to your inbox.

#4: FDIC Friday bank failure alerts
Maybe you're like me and you actually enjoy keeping a close eye on the economic happenings. The FDIC website (at http://www.fdic.gov) allows you to sign up for alerts on everything from fake cashier check schemes to the latest bank failures.

While some of us keep tabs on overall economic malaise either because of our job description or as a hobby, it might also be important to point out that many of us are also the go-to source of information for our not-as-technologically-inclined parents and grandparents.

If my grandmother's bank in Milwaukee is in trouble, I want to be able to give her a warning before the FDIC takes over. We have the tools, it is up to us to use them.

#5: Don't worry so much
While this suggestion sounds like a joke, I'm being absolutely serious. We can still email each other funny pictures, tacky joke email chains, and even guiltily browse the LOLcats every now and then. [Editor's note: Not everyone likes getting joke emails and many of them now contain phishing messages and security problems. Before sending jokes to your friends, we recommend you read "When it comes to email forwarding, sharing isn't always caring".]

In fact, laughter is absolutely essential at an unprecedented time like this. Projections are that a bottom is close on Wall Street and it just isn't the American way to throw in the towel. We've faced adversity before and we've came out stronger than we went in every time. Our own Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz recently wrote an article for CNN called "Stay calm. Make it a priority". It's also a worthwhile read.