Enterprise social networking
Encyclopedia
Enterprise social networking focuses on the use of online social network
s or social relation
s among people who share business interests and/or activities. Enterprise social networking is often a facility of enterprise social software
(regarded as a primary component of Enterprise 2.0
), which is essentially social software
used in "enterprise
" (business/commercial) contexts. It encompasses modifications to corporate intranet
s and other classic software platforms used by large companies to organize their communication, collaboration and other aspects of their intranets. Enterprise social networking is also generally thought to include the use of a standard external social networking service to generate visibility for an enterprise.
’s approach was to link people together via their emails, the website was like a friends search engine.
Businesses eventually realized that social networking websites could provide a fast and efficient way of marketing. Social media websites are great places for businesses to reach their customers, and the environment can provide a means for growing a business.
In 2005, as social networking websites were becoming more and more popular, MySpace.com had more page views than Google
. Myspace
was followed by Facebook
which started in February 2004.
When Facebook began, users were limited to college students who had to use a college email with a .edu extension to join the network. In September 2005 some high schools were allowed to join the network, but they needed an invitation to join. On September 26 of 2006, Facebook announced that anyone around the world older than 13 years old with a valid email would be able to join
Facebook’s online community.
In October 2007, Microsoft purchased a 1.6 % share of Facebook. That gave them the right to place international ads on Facebook. In July 2010 it was reported that Facebook had more than 500 million active users. This means that one out of fourteen people around the world is a Facebook user.
The growth of Facebook was a boom in the social networking space. Facebook became a huge corporation that had 1400 employees in 2009; their estimated revenue was US$800 million in 2009. In 2010, it is reported that there are more than 200 social networking websites on the web.
Medpedia
is one of about 70 medical wikis that allows physicians and researchers to share information. While the information is free and publicly available, contributions are limited to those provided by medical professionals.
Deloitte has been a pioneer in its use of the corporate social networking applications for consulting.
The adoption of social networking in sales organizations has recently been given a new name, S2.0 or Sales 2.0. Implementing a private sales social network provides a means to quickly disburse company sales knowledge.
Smart companies are using social media tools to outsource their work to their customers. In addition to using social networking to market the enterprise, companies are involving customers in the design process. Chicago company Threadless invites their customers to submit their T-shirt designs to the Threadless web site for review by other customers. Smart companies are also involving their customers in technical support using enterprise social networking. eBay
was an early adopter of the practice of allowing users to assist each other online.
To build brand loyalty through support of charitable giving, Pepsi
decided to forego Super Bowl ads in favor of launching the Pepsi Refresh Project
that helps people improve their communities through a variety of projects submitted and chosen through web voting by the general public funded by the Pepsi.
According to Oscar Gandy, in the age of digital media we probably do not have privacy. He states: “the panoptic sort is an antidemocratic system of control that cannot be transformed because it can serve no purpose other than that for which it was designed — the rationalization and control of human existence.” Gandy demanded creation of an agency that would ensure the survival of privacy.
From a policy perspective, according to Schement and Curtis, privacy is seen “as security against intrusion by government”. According to Garfinkel (2000) “Privacy isn’t just about hiding things. It’s about self–possession, autonomy, and integrity.”
Because social tools make many things that were normally private much more public, including all types of corporate data, many organizations would rather wait for best practices or to see what their peers are doing before delving very far into social networking. Privacy can become a huge issue at the enterprise level, when customer and employee data are at stake. Security concerns must be addressed prior to embarking upon creation of an enterprise social network.
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
s or social relation
Social relation
In social science, a social relation or social interaction refers to a relationship between two , three or more individuals . Social relations, derived from individual agency, form the basis of the social structure. To this extent social relations are always the basic object of analysis for social...
s among people who share business interests and/or activities. Enterprise social networking is often a facility of enterprise social software
Enterprise social software
Enterprise social software , comprises social software as used in "enterprise" contexts. It includes social and networked modifications to corporate intranets and other classic software platforms used by large companies to organize their communication...
(regarded as a primary component of Enterprise 2.0
Enterprise 2.0
Enterprise 2.0 is the use of "Web 2.0" technologies within an organization to enable or streamline business processes while enhancing collaboration - connecting people through the use of social-media tools. Enterprise 2.0 aims to help employees, customers and suppliers collaborate, share, and...
), which is essentially social software
Social software
Social software applications include communication tools and interactive tools. Communication tools typically handle the capturing, storing and presentation of communication, usually written but increasingly including audio and video as well. Interactive tools handle mediated interactions between a...
used in "enterprise
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
" (business/commercial) contexts. It encompasses modifications to corporate intranet
Intranet
An intranet is a computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to securely share any part of an organization's information or network operating system within that organization. The term is used in contrast to internet, a network between organizations, and instead refers to a network...
s and other classic software platforms used by large companies to organize their communication, collaboration and other aspects of their intranets. Enterprise social networking is also generally thought to include the use of a standard external social networking service to generate visibility for an enterprise.
History
Social networking sites started to form in the 1990s; an example of these websites is Theglobe.com, which began in 1995. This website was only available to registered users, but on November 13, 1998 a decision was made to go public. When the website became public, the increase over initial share prices grew 606%. Later Theglobe.com suffered with the deterioration of the online advertising market, which affected the operations of the Theglobe.com’s online community. The company decided to stop investing in social networking and theglobe.com invested in other services such as VoIP. As other websites such as Geocities and Tripod.com started to form online communities, they encouraged their users to interact with each other via chat rooms and other tools. They also provided easy-to-use publishing tools along with free web space. Classmates.comClassmates.com
Classmates.com is a social network service created in 1995 by Randy Conrads who founded Classmates Online, Inc.The social media website was originally designed to assist members in finding friends and acquaintances from kindergarten, primary school, high school, college, work and the United States...
’s approach was to link people together via their emails, the website was like a friends search engine.
Businesses eventually realized that social networking websites could provide a fast and efficient way of marketing. Social media websites are great places for businesses to reach their customers, and the environment can provide a means for growing a business.
In 2005, as social networking websites were becoming more and more popular, MySpace.com had more page views than Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
. Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
was followed by Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
which started in February 2004.
When Facebook began, users were limited to college students who had to use a college email with a .edu extension to join the network. In September 2005 some high schools were allowed to join the network, but they needed an invitation to join. On September 26 of 2006, Facebook announced that anyone around the world older than 13 years old with a valid email would be able to join
Facebook’s online community.
In October 2007, Microsoft purchased a 1.6 % share of Facebook. That gave them the right to place international ads on Facebook. In July 2010 it was reported that Facebook had more than 500 million active users. This means that one out of fourteen people around the world is a Facebook user.
The growth of Facebook was a boom in the social networking space. Facebook became a huge corporation that had 1400 employees in 2009; their estimated revenue was US$800 million in 2009. In 2010, it is reported that there are more than 200 social networking websites on the web.
Emerging trends in Enterprise Social Networking
Many companies are starting to implement social networks to promote collaboration amongst their employees. Vendors are now starting to use this as a way to help out the different companies. Some companies are starting to teach their employees about cloud computing and SaaS. These new technologies are being added to the enterprise social networks. These networks are being implemented to get employees collaborating and sharing tips and ideas about how to improve the workplace. Some social networks are homegrown systems that are built internally. Companies are using social networks to trade information amongst team members or other people who are part of the company. Sometimes this might also mean trading documents in real time. Based on research that Gartner has completed, 50% of enterprises will be using some sort of social network within the next two years.Business impacts
Companies such as IBM have recently been doing research to see how social networking can impact enterprise networks. Different companies have embraced social networking and they are creating their own internal social networking sites. IBM is one example and they have created the Beehive research project. Many companies are encouraging the employees to use their social networks so they can connect with other employees, help people socialize when they take a break, or even help contribute to other work related issues. Some companies are even joining the typical social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace to gain more clients, communicate with their clients, or target certain individuals based on their likes. These companies want to gain the trust of their clients.Applications
The year 2009 saw 92% of Inc. 500 companies using at least one social media channel, a dramatic increase over the 77% reported in 2008.Medpedia
Medpedia
Medpedia is a collaborative project launched on 17 February 2009. Its aim is to create an open access online medical wiki encyclopedia in association with Harvard Medical School, Stanford School of Medicine, Berkeley School of Public Health, University of Michigan Medical School, the U.K. National...
is one of about 70 medical wikis that allows physicians and researchers to share information. While the information is free and publicly available, contributions are limited to those provided by medical professionals.
Deloitte has been a pioneer in its use of the corporate social networking applications for consulting.
The adoption of social networking in sales organizations has recently been given a new name, S2.0 or Sales 2.0. Implementing a private sales social network provides a means to quickly disburse company sales knowledge.
Smart companies are using social media tools to outsource their work to their customers. In addition to using social networking to market the enterprise, companies are involving customers in the design process. Chicago company Threadless invites their customers to submit their T-shirt designs to the Threadless web site for review by other customers. Smart companies are also involving their customers in technical support using enterprise social networking. eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
was an early adopter of the practice of allowing users to assist each other online.
To build brand loyalty through support of charitable giving, Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
decided to forego Super Bowl ads in favor of launching the Pepsi Refresh Project
Pepsi Refresh Project
The Pepsi Refresh Project is a 2010 initiative by PepsiCo to award $20 million in grants to individuals, businesses and non-profits that promote a new idea that has a positive impact on their community, state, or the nation...
that helps people improve their communities through a variety of projects submitted and chosen through web voting by the general public funded by the Pepsi.
Lack of familiarity with social networking
Employees may have had little or no experience using social networking tools and conventions, such as working with wikis or blogs. In addition, they may have never been exposed to networking conventions such as tagging information or including links in data. This is especially true of employees in nontechnical businesses.Lack of Adoption
If training in the use of enterprise social networking tools is not provided to employees who do not have experience using them, they are unlikely to be widely adopted. The use of enterprise social networking must be championed at the highest levels of the enterprise to provide the resources needed and promote adoption throughout the organization.Transparency
The sharing of information across the enterprise through via social networking creates a transparency that may or may not necessarily be welcomed by all sectors of the organization.Perception
There is often an assumption that social networking will not work well in a particular industry or that its use may be perceived as unprofessional. In addition the ability to justify use of enterprise social networking, based on return on investment is not always readily apparent.Privacy and Security
Privacy issues associated with social networking sites can be seen from many perspectives. Some people will argue that this is just a part of globalization and the growth of technology, while others will still believe that it is a right for any citizen, and will never change their views and perspectives about their privacy. With the increase in popularity of social networking, many users have given up their personal privacy in order to join these networks. Social media privacy issues didn’t begin with social networking sites; they have historically been persistent issues with many other types of social media such as text messaging, instant messaging and computer-supported collaboration work.According to Oscar Gandy, in the age of digital media we probably do not have privacy. He states: “the panoptic sort is an antidemocratic system of control that cannot be transformed because it can serve no purpose other than that for which it was designed — the rationalization and control of human existence.” Gandy demanded creation of an agency that would ensure the survival of privacy.
From a policy perspective, according to Schement and Curtis, privacy is seen “as security against intrusion by government”. According to Garfinkel (2000) “Privacy isn’t just about hiding things. It’s about self–possession, autonomy, and integrity.”
Because social tools make many things that were normally private much more public, including all types of corporate data, many organizations would rather wait for best practices or to see what their peers are doing before delving very far into social networking. Privacy can become a huge issue at the enterprise level, when customer and employee data are at stake. Security concerns must be addressed prior to embarking upon creation of an enterprise social network.