Staying socially connected may be just as important for public health as washing your hands and covering your cough. This topic of loneliness has been apparently making its rounds quite often these days, the origin seems to be an article that reported an interview with John Cacioppo, a social neuroscientist. Cacioppo suggests that a feeling of social rejection and loneliness can lead to dire health consequences.

Not unexpectedly, online social networking – the socializing outlet for a vast majority of  Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation or Generation Next or Net Generation – was an integral part of the study. A study in the December Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that feelings of loneliness can spread through social networks like the common cold. “People on the edge of the network spread their loneliness to others and then cut their ties,” says Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School in Boston, a coauthor of the December study. “It’s like the edge of a sweater: You start pulling at it and it unravels the network.”

However, Cacioppo did not condemn online social networking sites such as facebook, myspace, twitter as a tool of doom. In fact, he called it a boon as long as users don’t spread loneliness among others because they don’t trust their connections and foster that mistrust in others, as loneliness appears to be easier to catch from friends than from family.

Definitely a point of view to consider but hardly one to obsess over. We all know loneliness and isolation are not good for public health. They lead to depression, which is the launch pad to worse health conditions from Alzheimer’s to heart disease.

However, social networking has become one of the most popular past time activities for all generations. Used by young and old, users join like-minded communities, make friends, link with business associates, share interesting titbits, keep in touch with long distance friends, stay connected with old colleagues and find answers to questions.

Social networking is also viral in nature. This has businesses chomping at the bit, trying to figure out how to take advantage of the social networking phenomena to promote their products and services.  The need for a specific field of advertising called social media marketing has emerged as a result of the wide spread adoption of online social networking .

Social Media Marketing also known as social network marketing or social level marketing, is an advertising method that makes use of social networks to increase the web presence of a business. This ranges from simply advertising directly on social networking sites, viral marketing that spreads throughout the web, email, and word of mouth, or providing niche social networking sites focused around the items being advertised. Social media marketing enables businesses to take their customer relationships to a new level.

Many sites include features where companies can create profiles. For example, on Facebook companies can create “pages” where users can become fans of this company, product, service, individual, etc. Many companies create Twitter, MySpace and Tradeseam pages for themselves. The grassroots nature of these social media networks demands transparency and clarity of communication that requires businesses to maniacally focus and obsess about customers, as one wrong move can flame your company’s brand due to the viral nature and high power amplification of todays social web.

In summary, the social web is here to stay. As long as the social networking on the internet does not take users away from your friends and family in the physical world, you don’t have to worry about becoming lonely. Social Networking sites can be a source for making new friends, linking with business associates, staying connected with old colleagues and long distance friends. And for businesses it can be the most efficient way to reach target audiences, build strong customer relationships and serve their needs.