Social networking is an important part of the Web 2 phenomenon. Social networking is the gathering of a group of people in work, recreational or educational life with the aim of individuals in that group being of mutual benefit to each other in some shape or form. Social networking is too valuable to ignore, especially as consumers are becoming more demanding, and expect to play a more tangible role in your business's success, or failure. Social Networking is becoming more popular worldwide like forums and blogs.

Marketing

Building social networks and establishing relationships with your consumers is often touted as a holy grail of online marketing. According to a fellow online marketing company, it's time businesses started to weigh the benefits of social networking against the time and effort that it requires. Social networking is now a permanent fixture in most businesses marketing mix and an absolute must for companies looking to the future. I feel this is the most important part of Internet marketing, after all where would we be if no networking took place.

Advertising

Recent research by Microsoft Digital Advertising highlights a massive opportunity for advertisers to tap into the networking phenomenon and engage with consumers. Companies can also use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Around 280 million dollars is being spent by advertisers on advertising and marketing on online social networks.

Community

Aspects of social networking include the creation of a personal profile or homepage, blogs, forum and message boards, podcasting, video blogs and generally sharing content with other users within the confines of an online community. Online Community sites will have a place as long as the internet has a place in society. Online social networks are also often referred to as "virtual communities", which is an extension of the traditional definition of a community. A traditional forum (bulletin board) can be considered the simplest form of social networking site and, of course, it is a virtual community.

Linkedin

LinkedIn, founded in 2002, is based on the idea of extending your network of work contacts and boasts high membership amongst young professionals. People need a reason to connect to other people and I believe this is one of the main reasons LinkedIn is beginning to hit it's stride in the social networking world. You might want to give LinkedIn a try. The most prominent business networking sites are LinkedIn, Sta.rtUp.biz, Xing and Ecademy amongst others.

Social networking is a cultural phenomenon that is giving high Return On Investment (ROI) and stable revenue. Social networking is seen by some to be the perfect solution to the problem of business social isolation. Clearly, social networking is an important part of everyday life for many people, and the signs are that it will become even more important in the future.