Marketing and the R Word

As Peter states: social media will play a vital role in marketing, research, even recruitment.
As I experience it, the buzz word "social media" is one of the most misunderstood buzz words nowadays (maybe only topped by Web2.0). So, hello, wakey wakey, it's no technology.
I'll make it easy: social media is the consequence of a technology called internet. In contrast to tv, newspaper, radio and every other medium, we now have a medium where one can reach anyone.
Blogs, twitter, flickr and especially search engines, now give anyone the power to reach a uncounted, unplanned and unexpected number of people in the internet. For an undefinite time. It's like a putting a graffiti on one wall and it magically turns up in every street map and atlas in the world that covers this city. And every phone book of that town. And every postcard ever made of that house.
Now we are in a situation where the customer is no longer an anonymous, amorph mass of people but a distinguishable, identifiable voice that can be heard all over the world.
A single pissed-off customer can now tumble down a complete call-center that was destined to deal with "support".
A single pissed-off customer can potentially reach any hot-shot investment analyst. You never know - until it is too late.

And, by the way, long time no see.