He is more famous as one half of duo Hue and Cry but this week Pat Kane will be showcasing new technology.

Glasgow is the first Scottish city to take part in the pioneering Social Media Week, which aims to highlight the massive industry kickstarted by websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

It began today and will feature 120 events across the city.

Glasgow is one of 12 cities taking part next week, including Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Social media is a term used to describe websites or digital products that allow people to communicate with each other.

Businesses now use social media techniques to communicate with their customers and the sector is one of the fastest growing in the world.

It is already a huge market, with Facebook valued at £32.3bn, and the week-long series hopes to encourage Glasgow-based media tycoons to make some money themselves.

Tim Wright, one of the organisers of the week, said: "Scotland and Glasgow are tremendously inventive. Social Media Week is a platform to show the world what's going on here.

"Glasgow and Scotland deserve more international recognition and I think next week will generate more awareness and understanding of what is going on in social media.

"This is the biggest event of its kind in the world and it's very exciting that Glasgow is a part of it."

One of the firms taking part in the week is Pat Kane's Kiltr, a Glasgow-based rival to Facebook.

It was set up to allow Scottish people to communicate with one another over the internet.

It already boasts a large number of subscribers and it is hoped that expats sign up when it launches in America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Kilter has managed to pull in more than £1million in funding over the course of less than 10 months, reflecting investors' belief that there is money to be made in social media.

It will open a drop-in centre throughout the week for people to come and hear more about their work and social media in general.

Brian Hughes, Kiltr founder, said that although US giants dominate the field at the moment, there are still huge opportunities available.

He said: "Social media is a hugely significant industry. It could be very valuable to Glasgow and there is already a lot of creative stuff going on here."

All events will be streamed online so they can be watched by people from all around the world. Visit www.social mediaweek.org/glasgow for more details.