Social media provides users with information via blogs,
podcasts, and webinars. Users write reviews or create forums,
wikis, and videos. Users connect with each other and providers
through virtual worlds and social network communities. “Social
networking has caused a fundamental and transformational shift
in the way that people are connecting, knowledge is being shared
and information is flowing,” says Charles B. Kreitzberg, Ph.D.,
CEO of Cognetics, a firm dealing with the human aspects of
computer technology. About 50% of large companies and 75% of
small ones (fewer than 500 employees) are using social media of
all types. Of those, it is estimated that 40-60% have their own
social network. Microsoft has the Town Square, IBM the Blue
Pages, and Best Buy the Blue Shirt Nation. “Engage me, inform
me, and entertain me,” says Bernie Borges, author of Marketing
2.0: Bridging the Gap Between Seller and Buyer on the Social
Web. “But don’t make me read an ad; don’t send me email news.
Companies are made up of people;