Are you a part of your social world?

Blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, Orkut and Facebook …the list goes on and on for the elements of social phenomenon on the Internet. These networks have provided individuals a means to connect and speak their brains out. They are permanently shifting the dynamics of how a buying decision is made and how a word is spread in the world today.

Consider this case as an example of the effect of social networks: a few gadget enthusiasts love a new cellphone, and all their friends know about it through blogs and twitter. Their friends tell their own network of friends and soon a domino effect gives that cellphone the cool gadget status and breakthrough in sales, something that would have been possible a few years back (maybe) through a multi-million dollar marketing campaign. Now consider the flip side. The same group of individuals didn’t like a gadget, and they start spreading the word. People start to agree with them and soon there’s a big negative campaign against that gadget leading to irreversible damages. Well people connect, they express themselves and the word spread, sometimes leading to the tipping point.

The rise of use of social technologies is affecting every company and product out there. It is not possible for you, as a business, to escape the phenomenon. It is no longer a question whether you are getting affected by the social media or not. Your social world is forming. The question is whether you are a part of it or not?