MetroplexInteractive

You might think Twitter, Facebook and MySpace are only for your fifteen year old tween texting wildly on her cell phone, but these social networking sites have become important tools for large, respectable companies in generating business leads and extending their brand.

Facebook currently has over 100,000,000 members who link to each other through known friends and to new friends through suggestions from existing friends. Though primarily for personal profiles – many companies have discovered that creating a company profile enables existing and perspective customers to learn about your company’s services, products and to receive news blasts as you update your status.

Twitter has recently exploded as a quick and efficient means of sending short communications to customers since tweets are limited to 140 characters. (This sentence has 127 characters) “All ladies tops 50% off today only at DFW Dress Shack” is a great example of a tweet a retail company might send to their “followers” to generate interest and drive sales. Most followers receive tweets immediately on their cell phone further enhancing the timeliness of the Twitter mechanism.

The oldest of the three social networking sites, MySpace caters to a much younger audience but members cover all age groups. Rock bands, television shows, and other entertainment organizations have embraced MySpace to communicate with their friends in the same manner as Facebook.