John McCrea, head of marketing for Plaxo, which manages 40 million online address books: "There are a few phases to social networking. The first phase was Friendster, MySpace and clones and it was pretty frivolous. Everyone connected as a friend. Strangers came together online. The second phase was about who you knew, maintaining and enriching your relationships. It was a way not to lose touch with people as you changed jobs or moved. The latest phase is an online representation of real world activity. Small and midsize businesses were always people who spent money on their Rolodexes and then on database software. They survive and thrive based on the power of personal networks.We're so early in the world of social media that I would say small and midsize businesses would do well to have representation on Facebook, LinkedIn and Pulse
Source Forbes
