SOUTH POINT — It’s more than a rage. It’s the way people communicate nowadays both in and out of the office. It’s Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, just to name a few.

It’s called the world of social media and how to navigate it and make it work for business was the focus of the first Business4Breakfast at the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce.

The breakfasts, which are a collaboration between the chamber and Huddleston Bolen law firm in Huntington, W.Va., will be quarterly and held at various locations.

Leading the discussion Tuesday morning was Rebecca McPhail Randolph of the Marshall University Foundation, who takes care of the foundation’s Facebook page and sees it as a way to reach a certain demographic.

“You can’t avoid it in the business environment,” she said. “And with mobile phones you don’t have to be at your desktop to access. (However) it shouldn’t be your main marketing plan, but it should be a key component.”

At the Marshall Foundation, Facebook is used to reach the student population to teach and encourage them to get involved with philanthropy, Randolph said.

“It is free marketing,” she said.

Right now there are 400 million users of Facebook with 161 million on Twitter. That goes along with the 2.9 billion email accounts and 133 million bloggers out there in cyberspace. And social media isn’t just for the 20 or 30 something crowd.

“One of the largest growing demographics of Facebook is the 55 and older group,” Randolph said.

With Facebook businesses can track who is checking out their pages to determine the age and gender and who may potentially become a customer.

“That person may not have the time to come into a storefront, but can get info,” she said. “Facebook is a great tool for small businesses that don’t have the resources to develop a full Web site.”