How social the Facebook have become??

Before Facebook Application development platform and all the internet stuff came (an era which only our grandpas must be aware of ) there used to be actual socialization. People used to meet each other, feel out to each other and talk face-to-face. However social the internet may have become, it just cant replicate the human touch. Today I guess the situation is pretty bad. For until and unless you get a virtual poke you hardly remember anybody. You add tons of ' friends' (it has become something like a Facebook score-the no of friends you have) but you hardly know anyone of them well. Or even the ones you thought you did, you are not sure about them anymore.

Facebook and life:- Whatever its demerits maybe (like anyone was bothered about it ) Facebook is here to stay. If you use the internet you use Facebook. It has become the rule of the thumb. If you don't have an account you are bound to be termed uncool. If Facebook was a country, then by population it would be the third largest in the world. Some 500 million plus users and growing. For everyone, old and young both are joining it. Among them are parents and they for one have a very genuine reason in joining it. For how else can they be friends with their children, know what their children 'like' and know what they think and feel?

Pros Of Facebook:- We can share what we are thinking, what we like, what we are doing and what we will be doing. All this with the people who matter in our life and unfortunately those with whom we seldom find time to interact. Such is our hectic life that Facebook offers a safe heaven, a gateway to that lost and ignored social life. Anyway its cumbersome to check on each of our friend's life so it's a relief to get their updates and that too in their own words. Facebook does offer what it says, it helps you connect with the people in your life.

Benefits of using social networks:- Social Branding Branding, Social Networks are becoming popular amongst various age demographics and can be used to create interception points for building your relationship with your consumers and prospects.
Customer Engagement Using social networks like Facebook , applications can be a great way for communicating promotions, contest and events with your customers.
Drive Web Traffic, Facebook Application Development can act as a portal point for driving traffic to your site and other online properties.
Lead Generation, Reviewing potential prospects' profiles may help you build a relationship with your prospects and aid in the lead generation qualifying process with the help of social networks

With the amount of existing and new facebook applications that are being created on social networks, business owners have an opportunity to use social networks to promote their brand even further.