Social media have proven to be especially good for making connections whether horizontally, between friends, or vertically, between advertisers and consumers and the like.
But social media seem to have the reputation of being a little fluffy; probably because the dominant uses of them thus far have been social in the lightest sense of the term.
However, social media have proven themselves to be a powerful platform for disseminating messages; marketing becomes highly effective when targeted at specific groups using information inputted through social media networks.
And let’s not forget about blogs and forums; often used for information sharing and collaboration.