This is not a fad. It’s here to stay. And as Generation X takes the reigns from the Baby Boomers, the following Generation Y seem to be hard wired into the social network – like it or not.

Don’t fight it, embrace it. You don’t even need to get involved. That’s the beauty of it. You can be totally passive and just see what the rest of them are up to.

However, I really still don’t care what Chris Moyles is having for dinner. And that’s my main point. Cut out the rubbish and be clever.

So, how is it good for business? If you can get people who like or potentially will like to engage with you on your social networking sites then they effectively become your ambassadors and they should be treated as such.

They should be notified about all the inner circle stuff that’s going on with your company or brand. And rewarded from time to time. They’ll reward you back by recommending you to their friends and probably continue to buy from you. They’ll even tell you when you’ve done something wrong, and if you’re smart, you’ll be able to put it right in front of all your loyal customers – so even more brownie points there.

But please, if your are going to do it, then do it. I can’t stand Facebook pages that had a last post from over one month ago or worse. You must engage – that’s why it’s called social ‘networking’.