Some businesses could get a huge lift from social networking. Let's say you sell racing engines. Lots of people sell racing engines. And, yet two people buying the exact same racing engine from the same engine builder can have very different opinions on why that engine is fantastic or a waste of money. There's controversy. There's opinion. And just possibly people who buy racing engines might be inclined to want to show off their stuff. Those are the makings of a social network community.
Before you jump out to sign up for Facebook or Twitter though ask yourself a few questions.
1) Where should I set up my social networking environment? Most people know Facebook and Twitter. Do you know how many social networking sites there are? Wikipedia has a list of social networking sites to get you started. The two primary questions here should be will the environment support your needs and attract people to your social network (as opposed to pushing people away due to security or other content issues)? And, what sort of social networking environment will best help build your community? Commercial social networking sites are easier, cheaper and more likely to attract a lot of people. Whether they are the people you want in your community or not is something you must consider. Building your own social network is costly, requires ongoing support and security considerations, and will rely on your advertising and your website(s) to drive people to the site. But, those might be just the people you need for your community. So don't think building your own social network is out of the question.
2) How will your business benefit from your social network? Are you intending to empower your community or are you intent on visibility and marketing intelligence? Does the community know your intentions? If you are more intent on gathering intelligence you might gain more from a private community set up specifically for invited participants as a marketing study.
3) How will the community benefit from your social network? People participate in social network communities for many reasons. Some are contributors, some are consumers, some are both. For a more complete list you might want to read Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. The robustness of your social network depends on change. The more things change the more opinions will be shared, the more questions will be asked and the more new ideas may be fostered. When there are no new opinions, no new ideas, no new questions then your community is likely to die.
4) Will there be a lifetime for your social network? Networks built around a cause, a product, even a service or a business will all have a lifetime. It may be long, but still finite. If you are looking for market intelligence you may want to set up a community for very specific time, issues and goals.
Obviously answers to these questions will spawn many more questions. Beginning project with well thought out goals more often leads to success.