The need for organisations and individuals to get to grips with the advent of social networks is, we are continually told, the most important issue of the day. For anyone who subscribes to this idea, this is a useful place to start.

Penny and Thomas Power are two of the three brains behind the online business network ecademy, so in theory they should be some of the best people to explain how to do it properly and why it matters. That ecademy pre-dates other major online social networks by four years (it was started in 1998) adds to the interest.

Principle author Penny Power says she wants this book to make readers "emotionally and financially wealthier". Whether this will be fulfilled depends on other readers having more success than I did getting to grips with the Power's delivery.

Power clearly knows social networking and I'm sure there are useful tips and nuggets of information buried throughout this book. But a poor structure and an overly fussy style mean the whole thing reads like a missed opportunity.

If you have the inclination you might find enough of these nuggets to make the exercise worthwhile.