In the article "What Social Media Can and Can't Do for You," Bryan Eisenberg, at Future Now, provides a good breakdown of where we are in the growth of social media.
If you're struggling with social media and expecting it to generate tons of traffic to your site, or hoping to use it for direct marketing, or make sales to late-stage buyers, you may be disappointed. But, if you're looking for a new way to interact with current and potential customers, social media gives you a new way to interact and build relationships.
In other words, you can use it to make your company and products better. Or, you can get caught in an error like United Airlines. (Viewed over 4 million times so far.)
Compare this to how Southwest Airlines uses social media to their advantage. Among the many successful ways Southwest uses social media, are Twitter posts sharing news and information about Southwest, informing customers of flight delays or weather issues, and routing potential customer service inquiries to appropriate internal team members so they can assist.
And if you think you can easily ignore social media, remember Bryan Eisenberg's remark: "… social media has legs. And it’s getting leggier by the minute."