Even before its release, on the 1st of October, the Facebook film; The Social Network has created a media hive of speculation, as it focuses on the creation of a site that is thought of as a global phenomenon in regards to web communication. Its tagline ‘You don’t get 500 million friends without making a few enemies’ highlights the sinister aspects that circulate on the site, as well as serving as an existing link to the fact that Facebook reached its 500th millionth user in July.

The movie is based on the book ‘The Accidental Billionaires’, which reveals how individuals accidentally stumble upon infinite gold mines, so to speak. The movie concentrates on the young Mark Zuckerberg and the first few turbulent years of Facebook’s conception, recounted in a series of courtroom flashbacks. Facebook is not portrayed entirely positively, together with Zuckerberg who commented; “I just wished that nobody made a movie of me while I was still alive”; his reaction communicates his belief of the media’s ability to alter perception, while holding back from a direct attack that could potentially cause more detriment to an already tarnished character.

Facebook has dismissed the movie as fiction, which is ironic in a sense as the site operates on that very basis; it is used as a tool in which we perform a digital transformation of ourselves, relying upon careful editing, where photographs are used to document the highlights in life but not normally the lowlights. A movie dedicated to social networking reveals how fanciful some of the elements can be, as friend lists become indicators of social worth and updates confirmation of an interesting life. Many portrayals online create enhanced versions of reality, including the creation of alter-egos, demonstrated by avatars which point towards insecurities, as we delete our shortcomings.

According to reviews, the plot captures emotion and betrayal; these elements can be seen clearly as a presence laid out on the digital profiles of Facebook, as the development of relationships are played out in front of an audience. The notion of a film’s captive audience translates directly to the workings of Facebook, which creates a digital stage of sorts, on which real life dramas are played out in front of an eager audience. However, the difference is that Facebook allows interaction, so that an individual can become part of the action.

The Social Network is from the director David Fincher who is known for his dark films and although the content is not driven by sweetness and light, there are flourishes of humour that separate it from other Fincher films, such as Se7en, the Panic Room and Fight Club. An instant injection of cool is administered through the portrayal of Napster founder Sean Parker, played by Justin Timberlake; the film’s edgy feel is also reiterated by the Hollywood comments of actor Kevin Spacey, who described the film as a “great story for people that don’t really know how it happened. Very filmic, very modern, very cool”.

This is the first genre of its kind. It is surprising that the concept has not been made into a movie sooner; in a society where news stories, such as the murder of Meredith Kurtcher are controversially snapped up as a cinematic opportunity; the comparatively mild media of Facebook seems to have been left to simmer. However, with a guaranteed interest of half a billion people, who are users as well as the extension of people who know a user and few signs of waning interest, now seems the perfect time to capitalise further upon the global sensation. Just as an insatiable curiosity fuels Facebook, so does it work to attract a loyal fan base to the box office.

Twitter and other social media sites are renowned for their ability to connect a wide variety of people through shared information. As a recreational tool, it provides insights into the thoughts and actions of others, while commercially it advertises the worth of companies through regular tweets that display a progressive approach.

The uses for Twitter vary, with new ideas emerging daily. Recently, it has been recognised as an effective means in which to tackle the specific and ongoing problem and reverberations caused by pharmaceutical robberies. Purdue Pharma, a private pharmaceutical company, founded by physicians has pioneered the scheme, in which pharmacy staff, eager to bring justice and prevent further robberies, share vital information on the appearance and whereabouts of a perpetrator that benefit other pharmaceutical companies both locally and nationally.  Pharmaceutical companies take crime prevention into their own hands and act as a digital community.  Twitter.com/rxpatrol also provides followers with tweets that supply safety and security tips for pharmacy staff, as well as reward notices that provide incentives for capture.

Tweets can also attach additional information, such as pictures and videos of suspects that serve to keep followers firmly in the loop. The launch of new features on Twitter, coming soon to all accounts, makes it easier to see embedded photos and videos, which is especially useful when viewing images of suspects. The new Twitter also provides a map of where a geo-tagged tweet was sent from, which is also helpful in pinpointing the specific location of a crime.

As with many things, Twitter and other social networking sites have their share of advantages and disadvantages. Disadvantages linked to the sites are as extreme as reports of suicide, as sites have the potential to make people vulnerable to and danger. On the flip side, social media sites are responsible for reuniting relatives, launching moral campaigns and providing a source of emotional support, as well as maintaining the sometimes fragile ties of friendship.

Twitter has also been used as a tool to help save lives, as suicide attempts are shared online via tweets from despairing individuals, as followers attempt to reason with the individual, while others raise the alarm. A recent and well publicised example is that of Demi Moore and one of her followers, who shared her feelings of depression on Twitter. This was noticed by Demi Moore, who quickly commented on her tweet. This then induced Demi Moore’s expansive fan base of followers to intervene and raise the alarm, so that the woman’s feelings of hopelessness were quashed through a torrent of concern, so that her life was effectively saved. Demi Moore’s husband was inspired to comment on his own Twitter page; “Lot of pain in the world…Reach out to someone you don’t usually reach out to and just say hi. They might be lonely”. The story has particular resonance, as a high profile celebrity was able to directly reach an ordinary person and offer help, revealing how the rigid barriers of fame can dissipate through the encompassing nature of technology.

The Iranian elections are an example of Twitter’s pivotal role in shining on a spotlight onto an otherwise forgotten or ignored event, especially when foreign events are not usually prioritised. A whole host of honourable organisations, such as cancer research; http://twitter.com/CR_UKand the Salvation Army; http://twitter.com/salvationarmyuk take advantage of the instant delivery of information, which in turn raises awareness of the people and places in need of help, providing links to make donation easy. It could be said that the essence of community spirit has come alive in digital form, where it seems to be less apparent in the real world.

The ways in which we choose to use social media sites can make a positive or negative impact. If used in the right hands, social media can showcase the powerful effects of charity, through simple messages that cheer up a friend to combat crime by keeping people informed. The potency of words married with an ability to broadcast them serves as an effective combination. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to cease a modern opportunity to spread goodwill.

It has been claimed that social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter now hold just as much influence on a teenager’s development as parents, peers or family.  Is this surprising?  A teenager is impressionable, willing to experiment and looking for adventure, and all this could be affected or achieved whilst sitting in front of their computer screen.  At a time when Facebook has just accumulated over 500 million users, will all the people be an appropriate ‘friend’ and should social networking be taking the place of parents and family?

Social Networking is a major sector of the technological world, with businesses, celebrities, and hundreds of millions of users online.  There is certainly a range of cultures, perspectives and information made available to users, and they can then form their own thoughts on this.  Celebrities are a big influence on teenagers and with verified accounts on Twitter, a teenager can ‘follow’ their favoured celebrity, mentioning them in posts and can ‘re-tweet’ anything they find important.  Having this connection with a celebrity is a good thing for an impressionable teenager; however can this go too far? Appreciation groups, fan pages and community pages are ever present on Facebook, and are all of them suitable for a teenager to read or even be a member of? Generally Facebook is good at monitoring these pages, and keep any unsavoury pages offline.  But does this stop them making an impression on the reader?

Is social networking helping or hindering our teenager’s development? A recent UK Strategy and Markets Development study found that teenagers spend a quarter of their time on Facebook or Twitter.  What did a teenager do pre-Facebook or Twitter, keeping people aware of what they were up to via ‘tweets’ or ‘updates’?  Now retailers are using social media to advertise their products or service, teenagers are now more than ever susceptible to online media and marketing and clearly have the time to read and digest it.    There has been an increase in the use of smart phones, which means young people can access the internet on the move, receive emails and post straight from their mobile to sites.

Facebook, Twitter and blogging have exploded in popularity surpassing Myspace, and teenagers could be seen at the centre of this.  Facebook originally created for university students has become a global phenomenon, with one of the first questions when meeting new people is no longer for a phone number but ‘Are you on Facebook?’  With such a vast network, it wouldn’t be smart for companies to ignore this.  Restaurants can put reviews up, smaller shops can try and get recognition and big companies can announce launches of new products or services.  Social media should be an integral part of any online marketing campaign as companies begin to realize the possibility of tapping into this lucrative market.

The tech press was abuzz this week with rumours from seemingly well-placed sources that social network giant Facebook was developing a mobile phone designed to compete head-to-head against Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android OS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 offerings.

Facebook attempted to quash the story early on with a curiously-specific statement of; “we are not building a phone”, which only served to add fuel to the rumour as it followed a similar tone to Google’s claims during the development of the now-established Android mobile OS. The inference being of course that Facebook could still be preparing some sort of an assault on the mobile market with third-party device manufacturers such as HTC and Samsung doing the actual phone ‘building’.

With Facebook’s dominant and constantly-growing position on the social networking scene and 500m+ registered members already sold on the web, a mobile OS based around the service would certainly make sense to a vast number of people.

While it remains to be seen whether there’s any truth in the Facebook-phone rumours, the story adds yet more weight to the viewpoint that mobile is the key area in which the major players will battle for the foreseeable future.

Although smartphones have been around in some form for a number of years, it’s only now that they’re finding their way into the pockets of the average mobile user, and they’re certainly not limited to the tech-savvy corner of the market as previously. The functionality of the latest batch of competing smartphones – full internet, html email, apps, GPS, HD video recording and playback, hi-res digital cameras, music, video calling, organisers and of course voice calls – underlines just how far the technology has come, along with how many other areas it is successfully invading.

The landscape of the mobile market these days means that the decision for the consumer isn’t as simple as choosing a phone anymore, it’s more often than not a 24 month commitment to a company and its operating system, and everything that comes with it… and it’s not hard to see why Facebook would want their share of that.

Social media sites enable a digital echoing of sorts. They can shine spotlights on a company’s charisma and illuminate the subtle additions that register quality to an attentive audience of more than one hundred and fifty million. Facebook and Twitter are the most recognised social media sites online and are often integrated into daily conversations, as posts of new developments spark intrigue. Facebook and Twitter are a popular way of satisfying an insatiable appetite for instant access to continuous information, which seems to be a permanently partnered with twenty-first century living.

Facebook’s success is primarily centered upon connecting people. Varying emotions are governed by social media sites, as its content can impact how we feel in the real world and how we relate to others, as we become privy to new concepts and perspectives. A company can take advantage of the user’s relaxed and receptive state of mind, sharing a space in which friends and celebrities inhabit. Businesses that insert themselves into a space, where humorous anecdotes are exchanged, project themselves as a less invasive presence, while simultaneously forging an online relationship with their customer.

Tweeting allows messages and therefore information to be carried on a virtual breeze, substituting communication by sound with visual communication. Words are indelible representations and seem to carry an ingrained credence compared to the reverberations of hear say for example. Just as news spreads through word of mouth, its authenticity is usually confirmed when they are read as stories. The arrangement, context and choice of words reflect the attitudes of a business, which can have a dramatic impact on how people view a product.

The attraction of Twitter and Facebook lies within the snippets of information that create curiosity. A business can also enter the social media arena using the same approach, as their products are almost dangled as a carrot that encourages a user to find out more. Social media sites entrust users with information, which simulates a community spirit.

Our intensified access to information means that businesses that opt out of social media marketing may vanish from the consumer’s radar, which is increasingly occupied by a hypnotizing presentation of brightly lit data. Only nine per cent of retailers do not use any social media. By entering the social media arena, businesses show that they can integrate and adapt easily, while remaining contemporary with fresh updates of special discounts and polls that engage customers and provide valuable feedback. Businesses also show that they are not adverse to new marketing strategies, in turn presenting a more amiable and approachable company.

An online space that is dedicated to the promotion of a product is an ideal way to express personality, much like the social networking site Myspace, which works on the premise of a digital space that is dedicated to individual expression. A cyber space can be adorned with messages and graphics, just as a room in a house makes a statement with décor. Businesses can take advantage of the free online territory available, in order to showcase a company’s ethos and create a reputation built on a willingness to connect. The sheer volume of users powers social media’s effectiveness. Followers and trends means that social media has swept over the world and is therefore the ultimate form in which to promote a business.

Many companies have a hard time understanding how best to use social media to promote their business online. It’s not that the principles of Facebook, Twitter and the others are difficult to grasp – they’re not – but, the real business potential can be a lot harder to fathom out. Since social media marketing works differently between businesses depending on what their aims are, there are no guarantees that what works for one will work for another.

That’s the beauty of social media, it’s flexible enough to accommodate an incredibly varied range of marketing approaches and still deliver success. It’s not a strict medium.

An uncomfortable fact of today’s commercial world is that people no longer trust messages from companies, on the whole. This makes marketing an increasingly precision process where even the most meticulously crafted promotions risk failure.

What people do trust is word-of-mouth recommendations, and this has always been the case. These recommendations come from fellow customers (or potential customers) and they come with an inherent credibility that companies can rarely match in their own communications. Social media is the biggest opportunity for word-of-mouth recommendations, well, ever. It has a worldwide span, it’s instantly accessible to anyone from anywhere, it’s permanently available, it’s accumulative and it all leads back to your door.

Word-of-mouth has grown from local to global, and it’s going on right now in tweets, Facebook posts, blogs and forums. Failure, refusal or just a straight-forward inability to get into social media for business marketing is tantamount to ignoring the latest incarnation of the most effective form of advertising of all-time. Is that something your business can afford to do?

Social networking is here and the importance to your business is that it can develop your online presence and authority through multi level communication channels.

Use it correctly and you can create marketing awareness that you may never have thought possible. It shouldn’t be feared or ignored but embraced as an extension to your marketing force.

Social networking tools if used correctly can have numerous benefits on how your business is perceived online.

It’s in its early days but the results for businesses across the globe prove that this is where its customers are: online. This new advertising platform allows business to converse messages to a ready and waiting audience; the trick is to be where your potential consumers are going to be communicating via sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. One of the most important areas is to learn and understand how social networking sites operate in order to develop your business.

Social networking sites work with your website presence. The key thing is to not forget or disregard your website but enforce it through the means of social networking.

One of the most visible and encouraging things is that it they can drive traffic to your site, create the interest and desire to look further at what you do and who you are and most importantly create enquiries and sales.

Engage with your customer base, release promotions and encourage your product/service or brand recognition through careful manipulation.

A brilliant example of a business using Facebook with great results is Pizza Hut, a global brand it has successfully integrated through to its consumer market base and with the advantage of the order app brings more appeal to its online customer base.

Social networking sites are proving popular to various age demographics and all market sectors providing you with an excellent opportunity to nudge consumers and make them aware that you exist!

 It is now not only the young market sector that is enjoying social networking but the older generations too, you can build your reputation and online credibility through flexible medium.

An advantage of social networking is that you can interact and engage with your consumers on a level not previously accessible. In the past surveys and questionnaires provided businesses with something of an indication as to how they were perceived by customers and the wider world. The data collected was not always fully accurate and usually an incentive would be offered to encourage feedback.

Now businesses can get down to the ‘nitty gritty’ of consumer perception through online conversation; this allows you to understand the needs of the customer or potential and delve into their purchasing behaviour.

Measure and control your reputation with the added value of building your online presence and nursing your brand values attributing to customer perception.

Customer retention can also be gained through this medium; you can find out the truth of what your customers really think about you.

The end result is to create more enquiries and increased sales for your business; social networking can be likened to cultivating your own online garden, plucking out any weeds of negativity or potential damage to your business and growing your business ideals.

Take Absolut Vodka for example; they have combined their Facebook page; Top Bartender with online videos. This facility has allowed Absolut to target their respective age demographics.

The launch of the new app for the iPhone ‘Drinkspiration’ allows the user to recommend and customize drink ideas. The app has proven very popular and opens Absolut into the social mechanism for interaction.

Social networking is going to move and develop, if this is the beginning there is plenty of room for new platforms and invaluable ideas. New technology is always emerging; your business must be flexible to react and engage in the new marketing tools available.

Personalise yourself with your consumer but remain vigilant to what you want to achieve.

For your business it is best to approach social networking with direction in mind, your networking strategic needs to be carefully grown in order to keep control of your business communication. The key to success in this new marketing area is recognising and appreciating that social networking is a powerful engine for business advancement and must be carefully maintained to achieve your business marketing plan.

Social networking has only just begun; all businesses must see it as the opportunity to market themselves in an ultimately online world with the advantage of maintaining and strengthening website performance.