In today’s world there is arguably no better way to do that than through the Internet, the medium of information and communication which so many of us use on a daily and even hourly basis. One of the largest areas of recent growth in the online market has undeniably been social networking. Once seen as an activity primarily performed by computer geeks and tech savvy individuals, it has expanded to the point where hundreds of millions of people from all ages, cultures and backgrounds access social networking frequently. Why, then, has business so far been reluctant to truly invest millions of dollars into these sites to broaden the advertisement of their brands?

There are a few stand out reasons why businesses have been hesitant to invest in social networking. The first and most significant, is the belief that social networking sites do not last long and are quickly replaced by new and ‘better’ competitors. Business’ would not take the risk of investing millions of dollars into a social networking site if they felt that in a year from now that site would be in the process of being thrown on the backburner as a new competitor draws its users away.

For an example of this one needs to look no further than MySpace. Only a few years ago it was seen as the dominant player in the social networking market. It had over 300 million users and appeared to have no up and coming competitor to challenge its undisputed position as the largest and most successful social networking site available. Yet as I write this the number of MySpace users has fallen to a little over 100 million and the unstoppable social freight train that is Facebook has surpassed it and gone onto bigger and better things.

But one must ask themselves now, what exactly will the lifespan of Facebook be? With over 400 million users strong, it has by far the largest share of all social networking sites. Yet in just the last year new competitors have arisen to challenge its dominance, most notably Twitter. Just last week Google entered itself into the market by announcing Buzz, its own social networking platform. Is it possible that these new competitors could someday catch on and bring Facebook crashing back to earth like it itself did to MySpace?

To those who believe it is, making an investment in a site like Facebook would not be a clever business move—and perhaps this is precisely what has held the corporate world back from investing large amounts into social networking sites.

Social networking sites, especially Facebook, rely upon the freedom and ability of users to create their own online content. Yet this presents another problem with companies looking to advertise their products on these sites. For those of you who are Facebook users (as most of us are), imagine clicking on a group or fan page titled ‘I hate fast food‘ or even ‘I hate McDonalds‘ and right next to are those unmistakable golden arches advertising a new burger. Of course, this can also work in reverse. Say, for example, a group titled ‘I love Summer‘ right next Coca Cola‘s iconic logo. This would fall perfectly into line with their current advertising campaign centred around the summer lifestyle.

Whilst embarrassments such as the McDonalds example would reflect poorly on a business’ image, they would be foolhardy to ignore the enormous market that awaits online on social networking sites. By advertising through them or even having their name associated with a site such as Facebook they open a huge new potential market and can reach a diverse and far ranging audience of users.

So the dilemma remains. Will the corporate world take the risk of displaying their brands and products hand in hand with possibly conflicting material posted by the very users they are trying to win over? Will they be prepared to invest in the astounding successes of social networking sites despite their possible vulnerability to new competitors?

Enormous profits and publicity rest on their decision.