Perversely, given that they potentially have the most to lose from its success, no one is more guilty of consistently overstating the influence of social media than those who report the news in the traditional media space. These days nothing seems to excite the press pack quite like a story based on a Twitter or, even better, Mumsnet campaign.
One of the more ludicrous claims made in the mainstream media following the BBC Trust's decision to halt plans to close digital-only radio station 6 Music, is that it was a victory for social media because 180,000-odd people joined a 'Save 6 Music' page on Facebook.
This nonsense comes hard on the heels of over-hasty predictions in many newspapers that the general election would be won and lost on the battlefield of Twitter. As it turned out, old-fashioned television proved to be the lead medium, with Twitter merely providing a laughter track to the leaders' debates for its self-selecting and demographically skewed user base.
Equally, the number of 6 Music hash-tags had about as much effect on the BBC Trust's decision on the future of the station as the letters to Points of View from cheery or mildly disgruntled viewers do on helping to determine the broadcaster's editorial and programme-commissioning policies.
It is also telling that, at the same meeting, the BBC Trust chose to rubber-stamp plans to close the broadcaster's Asian Network. This digital station is aimed at an audience that is already well-served by commercial offerings such as Sunrise and Punjabi Radio.
The real reason that 6 Music was saved is that the commercial radio sector has spectacularly and shamefully failed to deliver an alternative for the station's target audience.
It wasn't always this way. Xfm once catered for fans of indie and other alternative music. The station began as an independent in London in 1997 but was bought by Capital Radio the following year, and ultimately ended up as part of the vast Global Radio stable.
Purists argue that the station was never quite the same after the Capital deal, but the Xfm brand had became strong enough that, from 2006, it was expanded outside the capital, into Scotland, Wales and Manchester.
However, the Scottish and Welsh franchises were to be short-lived, while the remaining Xfm stations have moved to the safety of the bland middle ground, alongside Absolute Radio.
The BBC can hardly be blamed, then, for taking the original Xfm format and pretty much copying it; 6 Music even snapped up many of the presenters who had started their radio careers on Xfm, such as Lauren Laverne, Adam & Joe and Shaun Keaveney.
The lessons for marketers are clear: commercial radio has ignored a yawning gap in the market (indeed, RadioCentre did not send any evidence to the BBC Trust in support of 6 Music's closure). The BBC is therefore fulfilling its public-service remit by catering to fans of new music.
In addition, it is important not to believe the hype and overestimate the power of a trumped-up Twitter campaign. The traditional media is desperate to find something it can call a 'tipping point' that shows how social media has made an impact on the real world. It didn't happen at the election and it hasn't happened here.
Unless and until that point is reached, social media will remain another weapon in the marketer's armoury. However, given that traditional commercial media owners seem so determined to neglect the indie kids, it may be the only way to reach this audience.
Jeremy Lee is associate editor of Marketing.
30 SECONDS ON ... GLOBAL RADIO
- Global Radio is the UK's biggest commercial radio company.
- It was set up in 2007 as an investment vehicle for a £170m deal to acquire the Heart, Galaxy and LBC radio stations from the Chrysalis media group.
- The following year it agreed to pay £375m for GCap Media, which had been formed in 2005 through the merger of the Capital Radio and GWR groups. Its stations included Capital Radio, Xfm and Classic FM.
- Global Radio is backed by a consortium of investors including John Magnier and JP McManus, which famously old its 29% stake in Manchester United FC to Malcolm Glazer in 2005.
- Global's chairman is Charles Allen, a former chief executive of ITV; the group executive director is Richard Park, known to the public as the 'headmaster' of the BBC's Fame Academy.
- Since 2008, it has carried out UK commercial radio's biggest rebrand, bringing the bulk of its local stations under the Heart umbrella.