Social media refers to a number of incredibly powerful tools that allow users to connect with others based on different principles. From a business point of view it gives businesses an opportunity to engage with fans in real time.

Here’s a couple of examples that show just how powerful Social is.

A colleague of mine was promised by his local council that he, along with the other inhabitants of the village he lived in, would get the new recycling bins when they were due to be delivered in the surrounding area.

When they didn’t turn up, he contacted the council who told him the bins had been delivered but unfortunately there was none left for him or his neighbours.

Walking past the local council depot a few days later, he noticed a pile of brand new recycling bins stacked up behind a locked gate just next to the depot. What did he do? He took a photo on his phone and tweeted it to the council. It was retweeted by many, including local business supporter @Purpledognet. The next day, his whole village had recycling bins.

How’s that for illustrating the power of social?

A more recent example that highlights the power of social media is when a wildlife and insect photographer uploaded a close up shot of a small fly he’d seen in Malaysia, to popular photo sharing site Flickr. What Hock Ping Guek didn’t realise was that he’d discovered a new species of of insect. The fly, a lacewing, had never before been seen and when an Entomologist on the other side of the world came across the photo months later, he contacted Guek to inform him of his discovery. Fortunately, Guek was able to capture the lacewing upon revisiting the location it was photographed in.

Absolutely amazing – the power of sharing – that someone can upload a photograph to the web and someone else on the other side of the world can find it and determine it as a new species.

What examples do you have that illustrate the sheer power of social media?