Social Media is leading a revolution in the way we communicate and a “Content Explosion” on the Internet.
From the video above, we can see that it is going on strong growth in personal use and many organizations are also trying out. There are also stories about bosses complaining their employees productivity going down when a lot of time is spent on Facebook or important information being leaked out.
For those who can see the value and use it to their advantage, it is definitely going to make a difference to their organization. Even the US military thinks that the pros outweight the cons by lifting off the ban on Facebook.
Social Media is a double-edged sword. For those who are willing to give it a try, these are my recommendations
- have a clear idea what are your objectives to adopt Social Media (Begin with the end in mind)
- assess on the risks/costs versus the benefits
- provide policies or mechanisms to mitigate your risks
- provide clear guidelines and expectations upfront on the usage
- start on a small scale to assess the suitability for your organization first
- start internally if you are very concerned with the security of your information
Coincidentally, Straits Times posted an article about whether to ban Facebook in offices or not.
The comments are quite interesting – “You can ban it off the network, but you cannot ban their iPhones”.
http://comment.straitstimes.com/showthread.php?t=33333
I think public social media (e.g. facebook) is a great tool for mass outreach, marketing and publicity. A corporate social media, if managed properly, can increase effectiveness and efficiency. I feel that it’s already becoming more pervasive.