At its core, social media are ways people use internet-based communications to share information with each other. These include websites, microsites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other postings, videos, photo sharing sites, and many other forms of electronic communication. This is the new generation of online communication. What used to be Voicemail, emails and even Instant Messaging has now turned to iphones, blackberry’s, texting, facebook groups and blogging. Is your business on the cutting edge?

In simple terms, social media enables people and companies to share information easily and directly with a broad, engaged audience. For marketing purposes, social media uses channels like Twitter, Facebook, Digg and the Internet to distribute short, creative "man on the street" content. Video, audio clips, photos, blog posts, Tweets and text messages are new content forms that are supplementing -- sometimes replacing -- traditional, more expensive, media like brochures, direct mail and paid advertising.

Corporate and brand performance on social media sites like Facebook can vary widely in terms of the number of fans a brand attracts and in terms of what gets said: in many cased, companies and brands appear on social media because customers or employees complain about them. However, social media can deliver real business benefits. Here’s an example from the Y Marketer Blog. For more social media and Gen Y see who, what, where, when, and Y.

Papa Johns – The first great thing about Papa Johns Facebook Page; you can order a pizza! What a brilliant idea. Buy a pizza from their Facebook Page, pure brilliance.

• Facebook projects that 75% of active users will soon be outside of college.
• 56% are female
• 58% have some college education
• 34% work as professionals, executives, sales, education or technical personnel
• Only 12% are full-time students
• In 2006, 36% of Facebook users were 35 or older; that percentage jumped by to 45% in 2007 – a 25% increase.