All of this is, of course, great fun. People are moving from traditional media, such as television and radio, towards social media, where they can interact with other people. More hours per week are being spent indulging in forms of social media, and people are interacting more broadly and deeply with others. This is the right opportunity for all forms of business to engage their customers (and potential customers) in a way which may appear, at first, to be alien and in disrespect to marketing tradition. But, studies show categorically that social media can significantly improve the health, wellbeing and profits of companies both small and large.

The difference between the traditional web and the new web

The internet has changed since it was first envisaged. Things have become faster, cheaper, smoother and more accessible. We have come to see the internet as a way of life, an inescapable adjunct to our existence. It has been incorporated into our daily routines. We order our pizzas over the internet. We buy televisions, cookers, clothes, cameras, holidays, cars, books, DVDs, CDs and just about everything else via the internet. Whilst this method of purchasing has not replaced, and is not likely to, traditional high street or store shopping there is, nevertheless, an increased reliance on the internet as a purchasing vehicle. Furthermore, we get our services, too, via the net. Right now I can order a will, a health check and a financial makeover right from my computer.

The internet provides us with something that other modalities do not have. That is, user led convenience. If I wanted to buy a television I would look up makes, models and specifications on the internet. If I wanted to buy a book I could do the same. In fact, it is likely that I will lookup anything that I wish to purchase, other than impulse buys, provided it is something that I really want. But more importantly, I will look to see whether other people have used the item or service and whether they rated it as something worthwhile. This is the power of social media.

These modalities of connection have been shown to be powerful and effective, not only for the problems and solutions of the individuals that frequent them, but also as advertising and marketing tools.

But, in the recent past, social media has changed beyond all of what we would have previously recognised. It has become more "in your face", more pertinent, more prominent and more effective. People are flocking to social media like never before and the number of participants has skyrocketed beyond all proportion. Facebook, one popular social media platform, is now the second most visited site on the planet. YouTube was bought by Google for a vast amount and Flickr has been acquired by Yahoo. These movements demonstrate the power that social networks are unleashing. Nowadays there are all manner of social media platforms available. There are hundreds of videos sites, microblogging sites, forums, blogs, image hosting sites and other platforms that display a huge array of diversity in the way they manipulate and use established and emerging social media vehicles.

Over recent years there has been a not-so-quiet revolution happening on the internet. Unless you have been tucked away and devoid of all human interaction, you couldn't have failed to have seen the tremendous changes that have occurred. These changes have changes and modified how we interact with people both at a personal level and within business. No longer will traditional methods suffice in the battle for customer attraction and retention.

This revolution is called social media. Paradoxically, it is nothing new. Various forms of social media have been around in one form or another ever since the internet was devised. Messaging and email are both forms of social interaction and individuals have been communicating like this for some considerable time. Emails can be sent either individually or to groups of people so the each can be aware of the important or relevant thoughts or statements of the others. Messaging and chat have a long history. They are examples of primitive versions of what we call social media today.

There have also been communication networks in existence in the form of bulletin boards and other similar chat-based platforms. These have enabled groups of people, committed in the same niche, to interact on a more personal and rewarding level. These modalities of connection have been shown to be powerful and effective, not only for the problems and solutions of the individuals that frequent them, but also as advertising and marketing tools.