Social
networking has exploded as perhaps one of the biggest parts of the use of the
Internet. Like most things people are interested in, business tried to
implement them into their infrastructure and involve the average, everyday
person. What was once a cool trick and perhaps showing off of resources,, has
now become a necessary part of a business enterprise. People can connect with other colleagues with online profiles and find
people relevant to the information they need or the task they need to complete.
News feeds like, like any other social network, are a large part as well,
providing constant updates, information, and discussion to the work place
[1]. This new phase of business is
powered by the huge popularity in social networks, and the evolution of web
based programs becoming more powerful and useful. Enterprise 2.0 allows for the
business to learn and communicate as a whole, and to break through any barriers
the different positions may have between them [2].
Yet these programs have a high failure
rate. 90% of Enterprise Social Networking (ESN) programs rot away to their
cyber deaths around the first months [2]. They often fail from issues that
include: an initial enthusiasm followed by slow decline, only one department of
the business strongly adopts the ESN, the culture confusions and lack of
executive engagement stymied growth from the start, and lack of social business
maturity [3]. Seeing as
this is starting to be widely considered to be a huge part of the communication
process in a modern business, this could greatly damage the efficiency and “hive-mind”
of the people in the network. But clearly a common factor is behind each of
these main reasons of failure: The humans behind it. With proper training and
understanding of these systems, the biggest reasons behind an ESN failure can
be avoided. With a successful ESN,
employees are encouraged to share, they capture knowledge, can enable action,
and empower themselves and others[3].
All of these effects to employees has
one purpose as well, and that is to give the customer a better experience[4]. All these actions; the communications,
actions, interactions between the employees and colleagues; is to be aimed at
the customer wants and demands. That allows these social networking systems to
have a real goal and create an actual purpose for itself. So the bottom line
is, Enterprise 2.0 technologies should be used to self organize a businesses’
efforts to please customer wants. Along the way, the employees enjoy the
experience and make the customer experience even better in the end.
Source
1(Fundamentals of Information Systems page 195)