Enterprise social networking

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.

Businesses eventually realized that social networking websites could provide a fast and efficient way of marketing.

[9][10] Another example is Atos, which is deploying its in-house blueKiwi product across all 76,000 employees to achieve its Zero Email ambition by the end of 2013.

[15] Boral Limited was one of the first major building and construction materials companies in Australia to adopt Enterprise Social Networking using the Yammer platform.

[16] Other notable uses include Lockheed Martin and Pfizer as documented by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

In addition to using social networking to market the enterprise, companies are involving customers in the design process.

[21] 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.

[22][citation needed] Gartner have said that only 10% of organisations see value in a social collaboration product, primarily due to the lack of change management provided during rollout.

The lack of adoption is a complex issue with many theories put forward: [23] [24] [25] [26] The sharing of information across the enterprise through social networking creates a transparency that may or may not necessarily be welcomed by all sectors of the organization.

In addition the ability to justify use of enterprise social networking, based on return on investment is not always readily apparent.

[27] Members of traditional or conservative organisations perceive social networking as a time wasting tool.

[31] One of the significant areas of concern with the use of social networking internally within organisations is the impact and effect of behavioral issues.

Such emerging concerns cover issues such as attention management, death by trivia, dominant personalities, behavioral adoption and influence strategies.