Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube are all immediate ways to communicate with others, and members of the Chamber of Commerce got an introduction yesterday morning into promoting themselves through social media.

Lauren Libet, interactive sales manager with The State Media, told those at the chamber breakfast that they can expand their connections through social media for a low cost.

She added that the new Web tools allow users to get the word out to “a lot of people easy, instantly, at a low cost and all the time.”

Libet added that the fastest growing age group on Facebook are people 55 and up and those 35 to 54 years make up 30 percent of users.

It offers two-way interaction and business pages can be “liked” by anyone, she said.

But she warned businesses to treat Facebook comments seriously as they would to paid media.

She also encourages business to tell the public what is in the friendship, such as offering giveaways and putting up pictures on the site to tag others.

Libet suggested thanking those who choose to "like" your business.

Another option is Twitter, which is a realtime short exchange of messages with no more than 140 characters allowed.

Twitter has about 45 percent of its users in the 18- to 34-age group.

But to be involved in social media, Libet says, first to create a plan and to work towards drawing folks back, and to also have a road map and document where you want to be or how many friends you want the business to get.

Also, remember once a business starts a social media campaign, it needs to be updated. It will not manage itself, she said.