How Social Networking Supports Workplace Communities: Summary of Outsell’s June 11, 2008 Webinar

Web 2.0 and social networking have enabled content generation and exchange in ways that information management (IM) leaders could never have imagined even a few years ago. As communities and social networks proliferate on the open web, everyone, from kids to scientists to CEOs, is finding sites and venues for all kinds of communication, sharing, and collaboration. Information professionals are keen to use similar applications to deliver their products and services and to enhance their organizations’ knowledge landscapes. To help information professionals understand social networking and to provide some real life stories of its application in IM, Outsell hosted a webinar on June 11, 2008. This Briefing summarizes the webinar and contains:

- An overview of the social networking landscape, and important definitions;
- Analysis of four types of emerging networks;
- A table listing 19 professional social networks with URLs, roles served, and descriptions;
- Data on IM and user trends in using professional social networks and other new information delivery methods;
- Case studies providing examples of social networking and Web 2.0 applications used in one company;
- Implications for information managers who want to explore the potential of social networking and Web 2.0 tools.