For our new readers who were not living on earth until now, here’s an antipasto to give them the idea of what social media is and how it’s making difference to our lives.

Celebrities:
Former Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin and Newsweek have fought a war of words over the magazine’s front cover controversial image choice of Palin. Interestingly, the battlefield was their Facebook fan page. Here’s a citation from Palin’s fan page:

“The choice of photo for the cover of this week’s Newsweek is unfortunate. When it comes to Sarah Palin, this “news” magazine has relished focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant. The Runner’s World magazine one-page profile for which this photo was taken was all about health and fitness – a subject to which I am devoted and which is critically important to this nation. The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now. If anyone can learn anything from it: it shows why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, gender, or color of skin. The media will do anything to draw attention – even if out of context.”

Both Newsweek and Palin observed jerks over the past two weeks but Social Media analysts believe the significant increase in Newsweek’s fan base is due to the controversy.

Recently, Sarah Palin’s new book, Going Rogue was launched and she is using the book and its associated tour to increase her number of supporters on Facebook.

Film industry:
The movie, Alice in Wonderland by Walt Disney Pictures is expected to release on March 5th, 2010, but the movie has set up its fan page on Facebook to gain popularity and increase its fans before its release.

The movie has currently more than 70,000 fans. Not only the movie, but its characters have their separate fan pages on Facebook too. Disney is constantly producing enough interesting content like their trailer posters and behind the scene photos to keep their current fans engaged while growing its fan base.

Application Development Businesses:

Zynga, is the brand name for social game app development. It has earned name and fame through social networks and is making business of millions through them. With Farmville being the top social game on Facebook, Zynga has got Farmville, CafeWorld, Vampire Wars, Roller Coaster Kingdom and other games as well that are contributing in bringing revenue for the company via Social media.

Non-Profit Organizations:

Pink Ribbon, an application from TheBreastCancerSite.com to create breast Cancer awareness among females is using Facebook to reach out to the desired demographics. The organization has found it beneficial to use social media channels to impart knowledge about the disease to females that can be easily found on these channels.

Thanksgiving Festival:

As Thanksgiving Day approached, brands, retailers and online sellers put up their promotions online.

Take, for example, Food Network. It has got a really nice tab dedicated to Thanksgiving that is all about their menu and recipes for the festival.

These were some of the innumerable examples of how Social media is impacting our lives, broadly to minutely.

You think social media is affecting you in some way as well?? Share with us.