ABSTRACT
Social media can be defined as “an online mass collaboration environment where content is created, posted, enhanced, discovered, consumed and shared, participant to participant, without a direct intermediary.”1 Companies that engage customers via social media are, in effect, practicing social CRM, for it provides a new channel perfectly attuned to increasing customer retention, as well as acquiring new customers and winning them back should they defect. According to Gartner, the starting point for most social media initiatives is in the marketing, communications, or public relations (PR) departments-with customer service adopting soon after.2
