THE rise of social media has been well documented, extending from personal status updates and photo sharing to providing a new marketing tool for businesses.

Its impact has been felt recently, enabling rioters to co-ordinate on Facebook, breaking injunctions on Twitter, now the Red Cross reporting that victims of disasters are using social media to communicate with loved ones and ask for help.

But what has it done for local business?

One local success story is the Yorkshire Mafia, originally set up as a networking group on business social media site LinkedIn to encourage local businesses to work together.

Founder Geoff Shepherd said he never expected it to lead to the creation of the North of England's biggest business event.

He said: "We didn't really know it would become what it has. That's taken everybody by surprise. But social media has affected the pace of change, and has even had an effect on regime change in Africa."

The organisation, which has more than 8,000 members, is now working on its second conference following a first-year sell-out after the event attracted a billion pound panel of keynote speakers.

Avid Twitter user, Sadie Hopkins, who owns York Coffee Emporium, has also made online relationships work for her business as well as the wider food industry in York. As one of a number of local food businesses on the medium, she set up #foodcrew, a way of tracking foodie tweets which soon turned into a group of like-minded businesses which meet to discuss the issues and opportunities in the industry and work with each other.

She said: "A lot of us have changed the way we do business because of social networking.

And the fact that you can reach so many people. We can be more interactive with our customers and find out what they want so businesses can grow and move at a much quicker rate.

"Since I started using Twitter, I've got to know so many more people locally, both personally and as customers."

Bringing the names out from behind the screen has inspired the creation of other networking groups, including the Mussel Club, a North Eastern networking group launching in York this month.

The Mussel Club combines its own social networking website, with chat facilities, net meetings and news, with events.

Emma Atkins, a solicitor at Denison Till who has brought the concept to York, said: "The Mussel Club tries to put a face to social media. You can network online using the chat rooms and net meetings and then go to an event together."