Social media has become a cultural phenomenon during the last decade. Whether
connectivity is via ‘traditional’ internet or over a mobile device, the message is
clear. Social media is, by any measure, vast and fast growing. Facebook, with
over 650 million users in March 2011, is seeing its user base expand at over
40% a year, rapidly displacing the national social networks that were previously
popular in Europe, Latin America and most parts of Asia (including India). Twitter’s
volume of unique visitors is growing at over 80% a year. Groupon, the online
sales promotion couponing firm, has more than 50 million subscribers, and yet it
is seen as a relatively new kid on the social media block.