The long predicted recession has arrived. According to a recent Association of National Advertisers (ANA) survey, more than 87 percent of interviewed marketing executives said they had already been asked to identify cost savings or reductions in current marketing and advertising efforts, and more than half (53 percent) expected their advertising budgets to shrink over the next six months.

So why is social computing on a growth path when other marketing channels are looking at cutbacks? For three very simple reasons:

1.  It’s low cost
2.  It works, and
3.  It represents the future of marketing