Facebook: A Business Perspective on the Power of Intelligent Networking and Social Media

Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with more than 900 million active users around the world. In a few short years, Facebook has become one of the principal giants of the digital age challenging companies like Google and Amazon with its vision of the Internet tied together by personal relationships and recommendations, rather than by search algorithms. Facebook is available in over 70 languages. Its users flood the social network with their thoughts, commentaries and photos on a daily basis. While Facebook is first and foremost a social medium, it has also become an important business tool. Facebook has proven to be an essential communication and marketing strategy for those organizations that wish to operate in today’s digital media environment. Central to this idea is that social media like Facebook provide a low cost platform with which to market and promote a company’s brand. Secondly, it provides an excellent way to recommend products, services and ideas based on advice and support coming from someone the user knows. This chapter provides a case study analysis of Facebook with special attention given to the power of intelligent networking and social media.