Networking and the dying art of referrals

In a world where people are more likely to check your references on google than they are by picking up your phone is the age old business stalwart of the "qualified referral" dead and buried?

These days it seems harder and harder to just to keep track of my friends birthdays (unless facebook reminds me) let alone establish if they need a good electrician. I think more and more this referral function for better or worse is being replaced with facebook, linked in and especially twitter. I have actually lost track of the number of times someone has told me they found so and so through twitter!

So what is the new referral etiquette? Do you need to actively network on these mediums so that people will then refer work to you within the platform or can you rely on having a more passive presence to attract and secure work?

Small Business Accountants