Social Networking Potentials

There is a concept in viral marketing called Social Networking Potentials -- individuals who have enhanced influence over otheres through social communities such as MySpace, Facebook, You Tube, blogs, online bulletin boards, etc. Survey research can quantify the potential of users depending on their responses to a number of variables such as group membership roles, leadership, recognition, contributing to or publishing in various media, and so on. The advantage of using these SNPs to pass on marketing messages is the low expense and the flexibility of such a campaign.

To me this makes sense. It's old-fashioned word-of-mouth marketing amplified by the online social communities. Do you think this is a good way for a new product to get a "buzz"?