Social Networks - A Fad Or Something More?

Facebook is a social phenomenon, with over 175 million current users and for a certain demographic an indispensible part of their communication activities. Just look at the figures below to see how Facebook has grown over the last year, with no signs (yet) of it slowing down.

Facebook Facts

Source: Facebook

The challenge for businesses is what to do (if anything) about this obvious trend? Facebook is part of the wider move towards increased social networking. Social networking creates an unmediated form of communication between interested parties. These affiliations can be friendship, common interest, campaigning, event or family based groups.

Whilst this is mainly about individuals party habits it will remain ephemeral, but as the user-system matures new opportunities and new challenges will emerge. What makes it a game changing business model is the users control the information flow, both in terms of how it’s transmitted and what data it chooses to share. This is leading to consolidation - of opinions, buying power, support, criticism, likes, dislikes, trends etc. Understanding how these new entities form, grow and dissipate with their resulting aggregated views will offer a significant source of competitive advantage, whether offensively, converting any insights into early mover advantage, or defensively, protecting a position more effectively than anybody else. For organisations that can connect their own business thinking to the eco-system of the social network the future is already here.

Claudine McClean
T:  01789 734400
E: claudinem@salespathways.com

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