Now Is Gone seeks to help businesses embrace Social Media intelligently. Readers can learn if their organization is ready, how to begin, the predominant participation is marketing approach that other businesses are using, social media marketing strategies, and general social media insights. In addition to best practices, the book is laced with case studies that demonstrate corporate successes. This primer provides the quickest way for executives and entrepreneurs to figure out social media marketing.

I'm not a PR exec and I'm not a professional blogger. So maybe for those who are much more experienced in the field this is a "no brainer". For the rest of us, this was a VERY clear, VERY insightful primer on how technology has changed the way public relations works. It's made me reflect on my own social media habits and given me an glimpse of how businesses can harness social media to build relationships with their customers. Its a fascinating book that opens up a pandoras box of questions but it's a great start nonetheless.

Marketing and PR professionals who successfully make the transition to the world of social media have learned that "participation is marketing," and that's the theme of this book.

Geoff Livingston and Brian Solis have teamed up to offer a punchy little book that's packed with insights into the principles that can guide communicators into, and through, the increasingly diverse and changing marketing environment. They offer organizations and executives a foundation to help create social media strategies for their companies.

A key point: There is no more 'audience.' There are, instead, communities. By participating in online communities communicators can learn what the community wants and likes, and can create content that's most valuable to it. The take away from this book: build value for your community, and work for them.

While PR 1.0 was all about controlling the message and broadcasting it, PR 2.0 encourages communicators to spark conversations to help people solve problems and discover new solutions.

Marketing and PR professionals must create value for their communities: material they find worthwhile. This requires a) knowing what the community wants, b) understanding the intrinsic value the company has to offer, and c) being creative enough to deliver this value in a way that's interesting and compelling.

Now is Gone was written for those who keep hearing buzz words like "social media" and "Web 2.0." It breaks down what social media is and how it will affect businesses and their nature of marketing at a ground level. The book flows very well from one item to another and it allows you to apply it to what you already know and figure out what you thought you knew when it comes to social media.

As a social media junky and practicing online networker, this book covers the most crucial best practices when looking at social media strategies. Namely, the transparency issue is essential to having a successful social media campaign. With the same fervor and passion that Cluetrain Manifesto portrayed, Now is Gone is perfect for anyone in business who is looking to crack into social media. Whether you haven't started yet or you have a campaign in place, this book allows you to evaluate your approach to elusive Web 2.0 users and engage with them for valuable returns.

Unfortunately Now is gone is not worth buying. It's a book that should have been a pamphlet. The essence of the book is barely a chapter's worth of meaningful material. The book belabors the same point over and over and yet provides little insight into the greater media landscape. I found the book to be a painful read and yet I slogged my way through more out of my own dedication to the topic than the hopes of finding something meaningful. The most interesting part of the book is the last chapter which is a series of interviews with other people. Again, it is from these interview that the author draws much of the material for the book.

If you are truly interested in the topic of social network's impact on media and society check out "Groundswell" published by Harvard Business Press.

Do you sometimes feel like you blinked and an entire new way of communicating appeared before your eyes? This book will get you caught up and ready to lead the next lap.

If you're already there but need to get a client, boss or business partner up to speed -- this is the book for them too.

You will see opportunities you hadn't even imagined once you've finished this book.