Peter Levinsohn, the new head of News Corp’s digital division, has every reason to be in a good mood, having just watched a presentation in which online social networking was heralded as the advertising medium of the future.

The presentation, by Marketing Evolution, a market research firm, extolled social networking’s ability to create a viral “momentum effect” for brands. It suggested social networking was more effective for advertisers than television as it creates more engagement between individual brands and consumers.