Despite hype surrounding the use of wikis,
blogs, social networks and other tools in the
workplace, social software in businesses is still
more of a grassroots effort led by front-line
users than it is a companywide collaboration
practice, according to a new Nielsen Norman
Group study.
1 GRASSROOTS EFFORT
6 DEPARTMENT LEVEL
The IDC survey showed that
this adoption is happening at the
department level, and not across
the enterprise level, echoing the
Nielsen Norman study’s findings.
2 FRONT-LINE WORKERS
7 BLURRY GOALS
The front-line workers, a kind of Facebook
Generation, are leading this adoption. Members of this group are typically 20-somethings
just out of college, or even those who have
been using social tools for four or five years,
according to the Nielson study.
3 MANAGEMENT DISCONNECT
The Gilbane Group’s Geoff Bock
told eWEEK that the industry is
having a hard time putting its finger
on social networking usage. Essentially, what we’re qualifying as use
now is really experimentation to
massage the information overload
issue, said Bock.
Nielsen found that many senior managers still
consider social tools something their teenagers
use, highlighting a disconnect between management and their subordinates.
8 TIMELINE
The Nielsen Norman Group estimates a timeline of
three to five years for companies to successfully adopt
and integrate social technologies into their intranets.
4 VARIETY OF TOOLS
In a survey IDC
conducted earlier
this year about social
networking use in
businesses, 51 percent of the respondents said they were
using consumer
platforms such as
Facebook and MySpace, as well as paid enterprise tools such as wikis and blogs.
9 GOVERNMENT HESITATION
The Pentagon is reviewing its policies toward social networking sites amid network security and other concerns.
According to reports, U.S. officials have ordered a review of
the threats and benefits of using sites such as Facebook.
10 THE FEW, THE PROUD
News of the Pentagon review followed an order issued
5 BOTTOM UP
IDC analyst Carolyn Dangson told eWEEK
that of this 51 percent, 34 percent were using
social networking tools on their own, without
the blessing of the corporation.
Aug. 3 banning the U.S. Marine
Corps from accessing social networking sites such as Facebook
and Twitter from the Marine Corps
Enterprise Network. The order does
not disallow Marines from using
the networks on their personal
computers outside of work.
