The preconception seems to be that social media is solely the preserve of marketing folk. And that is so wrong. Social media tools can be (and occasionally are) integrated into all aspects of a company’s business. Reading a piece on car companies active in social media (US social media company Virtue just did a ranking of automotive brands active in social media) it was Ford’s Scott Monty who highlights it
Ford’s recognition among Internet users didn’t happen by accident, said Scott Monty, who heads its global digital communications.
The company “maintains active conversations” on blogs, message boards and discussion forums, and integrates social media into other areas of the business such as customer service, product development and marketing, Monty said.
What we do know is that it’s all about content and offering 
It’s been a busy week in the world of social media. So rather than highlight anything in particular, I thought I’d do a quick round-up of the stories that caught my eye.
It’s not a subscribers-only fact that trust has to be earned. In the corporate blogosphere establishing and nurturing trust between audience and brand is vital if companies hope to engage consumers and narrow the gap between “us and them”. Of course gaining trust is a tough nut to crack in corporate blogging, and can only be achieved via a sustained effort (we don’t implicitly trust someone we’ve only ever had a dialogue with a few times), fueled by interesting and credible articles that offer an open side-door into what makes a company tick, and dare I say lay bare a some part of its soul. This can be distilled simply as continual quality.