Galway Independent Column - 20 October 2010

Only if you’ve been on another planet will you not have heard of ‘social media’…this brave new world of facebook, twitter, blogging et al is not really that new but for us ordinary mortals it’s time has come. The computer whizzes among us have been involved in this phenomenon for years and predict that the next wave is not far away. Now, in case you are one of the intergalactical travellers there’s the movie..The Social Network.

On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication.

A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history… but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications. From director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin comes The Social Network, a film that proves you don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.

So says the blurb, the film is based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich. For business the most interesting aspect of this ‘social media’ scenario is that it’s free. Essentially its free marketing for your business. It’s time intensive but otherwise free. Here in Galway Chamber we are firmly in favour of any initiative that will benefit our members and the wider business community. That’s why we have hosted three interactive sessions over the last three Tuesday mornings on Social Media, blogging, twitter and facebook. Led by Ina O’Murchu who’s company Social Bits is based in the new Webworks building these sessions have been both informative and interactive.

Before the advent of social media and the technology to make it possible, our reach in terms of marketing was finite. Sure, by means of traditional advertising we could reach a wide audience but at a cost that would be beyond the budget of most small businesses. Now, with some training and an application of time and the right tools we can reach an audience of millions.

This is the future and business has to prepare for it. It’s a brave new world out there and business has to be courageous and take the first step. Galway Chamber held its 219th AGM yesterday. We currently have a facebook page. We blog and we twitter. We have evolved for our members over the years. We will continue to do so.

Finally the news this week that a US company is targeting the city for a possible 800 new jobs in the call centre arena is very positive. Let’s do everything we can to make sure that Galway ticks the right boxes on their list.