Don't Call Us; We'll Facebook You!

Facebook, Twitter, and Google Buzz, along with several other social networking sites are now being strategically utilized by various organizations to raise awareness about their companies.  Organizations are using these sites for tasks like marketing, recruiting potential employees, and even boosting workplace morale.  The social nature of these types of sites allow organizations to become more accessible, and not come across so cold and formal.  Corporate organizations and the like now have a venue where they can foster a "family" type of atmosphere to appeal to a broader demographic. 

For companies, one of the main benefits of being linked to a social network is the "cool factor."  Beign on Facebook and Twitter allows companies to appear to be hip or trendy.  This may seem trivial; however, this aspect can be very influential over twenty-somethings who are fresh out of college and looking for a place to work.  Many companies are estatic to now have a tool they can use to appeal to recent college grads; it affords them the opportunity to draw new young talent.

Some of the creative strategies that have been employed by organizations in order to utilize social networking sites to their maximum potential are interesting to say the least.  For example, according to buzz marketing daily, a website called JobNob uses Twitter to tweet its "cool job" of the day; a restaurant called Market Street tweets daily menu updates; and police are now even using Facebook to track down criminals and fight crime.  The possibilities are endless when it comes to utilizing sites that connects droves of people who, under normal circumstances, would not be able to stay in touch with one another.

Social networking offers smiliar benefits as Creative Commons when it comes to the independent artist or the entrepreneur.  Social networking sites can be utilized to "leak" information about individuals who are trying to promote themselves or their business, and they can actually create a public interest in their product by presenting it as the next big thing on one of these sites.  An example of this would be an author who creates a page on Facebook for his/her novel -- when people become fans of that page, then it has the potential to create a domino effect: their friends become fans, then their friends, etc., until the author has a New York Times best-seller!  With the advent of sites like these, PR/advertising departments can be cut in half.  That may not be good for the PR and advertising folks, but it is good for the organizations that are saving money while generating a much larger buzz than their human advertising specialists could.

http://mashable.com/2009/02/24/top-10-social-sites-for-finding-a-job/
http://blog.thekbuzz.com/2009/02/25-innovative-ways-companies-are-using-twitter-that-you-may-not-have-heard-of-yet.html
http://marketing.about.com/od/internetmarketing/a/facebookmktg.htm
http://about.digg.com/how
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/online/socialnetworking2.htm