Social media has become big business – not unlike the search  marketing paradigm pioneered by the likes of Google and Yahoo. While pay per click advertising on a massively  popular consumer platform like Facebook is one aspect of the business model, more diverse and innovative commercial solutions are being generated by business to business solutions providers.

Brand monitoring is all the rage on places like Twitter, and advanced monitoring consultancies have sprung up, offering their services to large businesses and blue chip clients. Social media monitoring is one area that promises to hold greast value for corporate business managers as they scramble to analyze and cash in on the buzz their corporate empires are generating among the consuming masses.