Over the past several months, the social media world has shifted its focus from simply sharing content between people and has put a heavier emphasis on giving active social networkers the ability to voice an opinion about the content they are sharing. This is most evident in Facebook’s shift away from their old “Share” button to the their new “Like” button, which seems to have spread across the web like wild fire since its release this past year.

This trend is also apparent in the world of professional networking websites. For some time now, members of LinkedIn have had the ability to “recommend” colleagues that they have worked with – the goal being to get the most recommendations possible. And now a new website has arrived on the scene that blends elements of LinkedIn and Facebook (as well as other social media sites like Foursquare), and allows you to quite literally give the “thumbs up” to a past or present colleague.

The new site, Talentag.com, is a fun and easy way to build you professional reputation. According to their site, “Talentag lets you ask [for] professional feedback that build up your profile. Your co-workers and friends can tag you with words or a badge and they can also vouch for a particular role you worked together. Naturally it’s a two-way street and you can do the same for your favourite [sic] co-workers. This way everyone can have a Talentag profile that can be trusted.”

From our perspective this new service has several great benefits that can benefit the HR world. Firstly, it’s a fun way to network. For many people, professional networking can be a burden. But now, instead of making a dreaded phone call, you have the ability to reach out to old colleagues by sending them a “badge.” A badge, as Talentag describes it, “are hand-crafted virtual gifts to proudly show off you[r] excellence in a particular field or a personality trait.” What better way to reconnect than by sending someone a “mentor” or “gets stuff done” badge.

From an interviewing and hiring perspective, assuming the hiring manager is connected to the interviewee (which is not likely), it has the potential of providing a quick snapshot into what a person’s colleagues believe to be the character of the candidate. This is, of course, wholly unscientific, but it may be useful for HR generalists responsible for screening candidates during phone interviews.

Lastly, Talentag is fun. In many ways, LinkedIn is a robust, professional service with a lot of bells and whistles. But, in my opinion, the site also lacks a sense of personality and is somewhat too “straight laced” for my taste. Talentag has stepped in where LinkedIn has stopped. In a sense, Talentag is the fun, yet hardworking guy in the office, whereas LinkedIn is the COO who wears the suit and tie to work.

Talentag is not 100% perfect, for example: as of right now, you cannot create a public profile to share with colleagues. Also, the service only displays the positive aspects of your professional reputation and will only give one side to the story. However, despite missing a few features, the website is fun, easy to use, and ambitious. We highly recommend checking it out and that you begin socializing your professional reputation.

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