I am often involved in leading event marking initiatives. Last fall I included facebook and Twitter messaging in promoting a local event.

My analysis, (from onsite surveys) was that the impact of twitter was marginal. We asked staff to list the event on their facebook account, and to also encourage family, friends and neighbours to also do so. The event covered a few days, and we also asked attendees (who liked it) to share the information on their facebook accounts.

The analysis was that the facebook initiative to be worthwhile, as it complemented other marketing initiatives, and reached some segments (youth) that may have been difficult to reach through traditional routes (newspapers, radio, TV, internet posters, and internet and community bulletin boards).

However, this was a local initiative and involved targeted facebook use. If I found that 1 million people in China read about it on social media, it would not have helped much in getting folks to attend our event .