Announcing a week ago that it had reached 150 Million active users worldwide, if Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth largest country in the world just ahead of Nigeria, Japan and Russia.  This is a 50% growth in four months from the 100 Million active users it had in August of 2008.

People are becoming active in social networks in increasing numbers.   According to some research we did, 40% of Generation Y has a Social Network profile.  And its not just Gen Y.  People of all ages are active in social networks. My uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends and my mom are all on Facebook.  Even my grandma has a Facebook account and is active on it.

We are past the point of debating if people are using social networks and if brands should have a presence on them.  We are at the point where we need to be asking ourselves, “What are we doing about it?”

Some brands may choose to do nothing.  Its what Apple has done.  But that has been a conscious decision that they have made knowing full well that Apple customers would stand up for them in this space.  While Apple may not be active in the space, I am sure they are monitoring what is being said.

Every day people are talking about brands.  What are they saying?  What are brands doing about it?  Its time for brands to take a look at the social network and social media space and decide what is the right strategy for their brand.