The popularity of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook has grown exponentially in recent years. Wikipedia estimates that 1. 5 billion people use social Media websites. This speaks of the enormous power of social sites in terms of its reach.

The popularity of social media websites has been such that users have become addicted to the virtual network of friends. Medical councils have even initiated the debate on impact of such sites on human health. These social media sites allow the person to build his own virtual network of friends. The plea for moderate use of these sites has fallen on deaf ears.

The evolution of social network sites has transformed the communication process. It is easy to know what is Jack or Jill doing at the moment. Even celebrities have hopped the bandwagon of social media. They are actively using social sites like Twitter, Facebook to communicate with their fans. There is little doubt about the usefulness of these sites for the society. These social sites help users to connect with their friends, some of whom meet after 15 years. Courtesy, social sites like Facebook, Linked-In etc.

Companies on their part have begun brand protection exercise. They have become active participants on social sites like Facebook, Twitter etc. Kentucky Fried Chicken successfully re-launched its French fries product with the help of Twitter and Facebook. It is worth mentioning that Kentucky Fried Chicken had failed to launch the product successfully during its first launch. The strategy of Kentucky Fried Chicken was simple. It organized a contest which became hugely popular among the users which saw the phenomenal jump in the sales of fries.

Social sites have proved to be the boon for marketers. They have their potential customers right in front of them. There have been cases where the company whose product failed initially was able to re-launch the product successfully with the help of social sites.

Large corporations are not behind either. Dell Corporation successfully utilized Twitter to promote its promotional campaigns. The company created a special offer exclusively for Twitter users. It is believed that Dell Corporation was able to generate revenues to the tune of $ 10 million from Twitter alone. This example demonstrates the viral power of social sites which can catapult a brand into top league in no time.

There is much more scope for innovation in the technological interface of social networking sites. As the technology progresses we may witness the complete integration of various applications within social networking sites.