So, finally people came to conclusion that online rules of purchasing are just the same as  offline rules, i.e.- my friend recommeded me that thing( or company) and I have heard  so many great things about them...Nothing new, really

You make a great observation that many of the LinkedIn group have a high "noise to signal ratio" - meaning they are filled with vendor promotional announcements and other messages that are considered to be "vendor spam". Some groups are well moderated and they keep out these promotional messages (or at least move them to the Promotions area of the group.)

At IT Central Station (www.itcentralstation.com) vendors are prevented from posting promotional messages or reviews about their products (or of competitor products) in order to keep the discussion relevant, on topic, and valuable to the buyer community.

I think one of the more appealing aspects of using social networking for purchasing is you get real world reviews and get to hear the rants and raves about products, services or companies in whole. It's a great way to gather feedback and at least pick a starting direction.

Yes, I'm skeptical that Linkedin influences IT purchasing decisions as much as Gartner or other consulting reports. I'm not even sure that Facebook really influences much consumer behavior, so how much influence does professional networking really have?

Unfortunately though, too often not enough knowledge is gathered by those who want to pull the trigger on social networking and 'assume' it's a simple, one-stop ordeal. This is why some companies hire people specifically to manage their social networking, because those companies get it (or try to get it at least). It really isn't as simple as setting it up and letting it flow; like you said, it takes dedication and follow-through to keep it going and get your ROI.

Selecting the right platform is an important step towards creating an effective social IT support environment. Hosting a social IT environment demands a greater commitment than just opening a service platform to end users. It requires care and feeding. Potential users need to be encouraged to visit and use the system and some training and major culture change will be required in many cases. Social IT administrators also need to follow up on user suggestions, incidents and problems

Alison, the key here is that if the person posting the review sticks to facts, then he/she is protected and won't be found guilty of libel. So the lesson for reviewers of technology products is to stick to the facts and also do not share confidential information or company trade secrets. Other than that, you should feel free to exercise your freedom of speech and be heard!

I agree with the fact that we look at our peers and seeing what they are doing and buying, however at the end of the day we make our own decisions by doing comparisons on the products by considering whether it responses the challenges we are facing in the environment and/or if it is cost effective for our own business.

Agreed. I don't think anyone could have predicted that social networks would eventually have such a large role in IT or business operations and decisions. And yet, here we are.

I would have to say that it is largely due to the people factor. After all, to do business, you have to deal with people. To sell your goods, you have to build relationships with customers. That makes social networking something worth considering.