Ms. Swift Shows How Powerful Social Networking & Twitter Can Be

Not all of you may know who she is, but Veronica Ballestrini, 17, has been using twitter, YouTube and Facebook to make her career, sell more than seven million records in the last four years, and sign a country music contract. So, love country, or hate it, but you've got to love the fact that this woman had the smarts and the gumption to keep plugging away at her online presence to build up a following. An online following that outstrips just about any country western star except for Miley and her dad Billy Rae Cyrus.

Ms. Swift was a nobody just a few years ago, but she was among the first country artists to aggressively use online media to promote herself. With 100,000 followers online, she had Country Music Television calling her and asking to play her music.

So if you're still wondering about whether social networking and twitter actually work - take a look at what this girl from Connecticut did. Oh yes, or you might just look at a little country called Iran and ask how the revolution is being communicated...