As a copywriter at MediaVision’s South African office I often find myself contemplating the implications of being in the online industry in a third world country. Of course the beauty of the globalised internet age is that it doesn’t matter too much where in the world you are, as long as you have the right clients, and a working computer and functional internet connection, which I sometimes take for granted.

In a country where less than ten percent of the population has access to the internet it is crucial for businesses to analyse their market and its internet usage trends, if indeed they are online. Since social media and micro blogging are increasingly becoming indicators of a business’s online activity, the most recent statistics for Twitter use in South Africa provide some interesting insight into the subject.

Today I read this post about Access Agency, a cool company with cool ideas; and this post which is an analysis of a recent Twitter campaign by upmarket South African retailer Woolworths.

I’m sorry if I am so two thousand and late right now but I have finally started to understand social media! I had an epiphany, the penny dropped, the switch went on. And I didn’t even know it was off in the first place! So while I am well aware that this is probably old news, I’m writing this post for anyone else who may still be in the dark.

Of course I started using MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others as soon as they became popular. And of course I told anyone I knew who owned a business or managed a project that they needed to get involved and use the channels to promote their brand.