That is the scenario Strive PR's managing partner Sherrilynne Starkie laid before those attending a professional development seminar at the International Business School on March 17.

All of these people have links to you and your company and are bound to talk about you at this hypothetical dinner party, but if you are not there you cannot hear what they have to say about your products, your service or your business in general. You are also lacking a voice to address issues and give your views.

This is the situation many companies find themselves in when it comes to social networking sites. Various people associated with their business are out there giving opinions about them in web world and they are missing out on both the feedback and the opportunities involved.

Lack of time and resources to experiment with this new form of communication is largely responsible for smaller companies failing to get involved and Mrs Starkie said a lot could be learned by watching larger companies such as General Motors.

'GM is trying out the new stuff that a lot of companies cannot afford to,' she said. 'Other companies should watch and learn.'

To mark its 100th anniversary, the company launched the social media site GM Next to get views on the first century of the business from those who have been involved.

In the first week, more than 13,000 people had made entries. These have not all been positive, but Mrs Starkie said GM recognised that from the outset and wanted the truer reflection of the firm's history that resulted from this.

The site also provided a platform for GM to answer critics such as environmental lobby groups. But it was not all plain sailing. One action group slammed the site so hard and fast that part of it had to be closed to preserve the conversation elsewhere, leading to claims that it was censoring opposition.

But larger firms like GM are better able to take such blows than smaller companies who can look at what the big businesses are doing and learn from their mistakes and mishaps.

Mrs Starkie said this is the key to successfully interacting using social networks – you cannot control them, you can only take your seat at the table and participate in the conversation.