So what sites were favoured by businesses?

Well Virgin Media Business has found that Facebook seems to be a favourite for retailers looking at how social networking can boost e-commerce, with 36% using it for business.

Twitter, on the other hand, was only used by 9% of the 500 retailers surveyed - perhaps this is an area for future growth.

What  results have businesses seen since implementing social media into their technology?  IMRG and eDigital research showed that two-thirds of e-commerce businesses and departments have increased their turnover since last year.

But the bottom line about social media is that it is still relatively new - as 70% only started using it in the last three years.

Tim Gibbon, director at Elemental, offered his advice to those who want to show a business that they can lead the social network revolution in their workplace.

"Social media has actually existed for quite some time now and this should be acknowledged, because there were certainly communities and socially driven environments before Facebook, Twitter, You Tube et al."

Mr Gibbon pointed out that social media has changed since it was first around, and so should businesses be prepared to:  they will constantly need to evolve with this new technology.

"Balance and realism in what social environments can achieve is important in that just because businesses may have a presence, may participate, it doesn't mean it will yield the results expected".

"Indeed, quite the opposite can happen: when a business is not prepared with even a little understanding of the changing platforms, brand dilution is possible, " he warned.

Do you agree?