• BBC, Monday, October 4, 2010 12:42 PM

The BBC's Tim Weber thinks the social Web is changing business practices, and, in particular, how businesses relate and communicate with consumers. It's hardly a novel contention, but one with implications that have yet to be fully digested by most corporations around the world. "These days one witty Tweet, one clever blog post, one devastating video -- forwarded to hundreds of friends at the click of a mouse -- can snowball and kill a product or damage a company's share price," writes Weber.

"It's a dramatic shift in consumer power." Web then suggests that companies harness the power of social media, and use it to their advantage -- again, not the most original idea, and far easier said than done. One European clothing company, mentioned by Weber, privately admits that its social media team is "baffled by its customers' ever changing slang, and even the online Urban Dictionary provides little help." Obviously, you're in trouble if you're not even speaking the same language.

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