Sick of the mindless nonsense on Facebook (and endless FarmVille notifications from friends), I decided the other week to revisit my LinkedIn account.  I’m glad I did.

LinkedIn really is an extraordinary site – and one that seems to have stood the test of time in the world of professional social networking. Sure LinkedIn is slow at times, but its connections, recommendations, jobs features are all great stuff.

Now as I dig deeper into LinkedIn’s world, I’m discovering my profile can be so much more than just a glorified resume.

Here are five things I didn’t know about LinkedIn… until now.

1. Video. Add video to your profile with LinkedIn’s video application. Reel Social Media has step-by-step instructions for those who are technically-challenged. This is a great feature for anyone who wants to showcase speeches, presentations. It can even be an unique way to add recommendations.

2. Tag your contacts. Give your contacts unique labels so you can remember who they are and where you met.

3. Reorder your profile to highlight your best attributes. Again, don’t think of your profile as a resume. Think of it as a mirror image of yourself.  LinkedIn just introduced this new reordering feature and there’s a handy video guide on the company blog.

4. Who’s viewed your profile? Stroke your ego and stay on top of who’s paying attention to YOU. LinkedIn let’s you see who’s viewed your profile, a feature the other guys don’t have – yet.

5. Get traffic. This may seem like a no-brainer, but people don’t take advantage of this feature as much as they should. Everyone should use LinkedIn to drive more traffic – especially targeted traffic – to their website. Do this by first linking yourself to people you know, then by answering the questions of people you don’t.  Also, join and participate in groups that cater to your niche.

Admittedly, I’ve only begun to scratch the surface at LinkedIn. I’ve spent way too much time away.

I’m back now and excited to see what the site can really do.