Social Networking Sites versus Corporate Social Networking Portals

When we use Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites, we share following experiences:

·         We are usually invited to participate by people we know and trust.

·         There are specific things we want to do with the other people involved, such as share photos, stay up-to-date on a club's activities, or develop a personal reputation.

·         We get something back from participation: advice, practical information we need, a network to tap when times are rough, or the emotional pleasure of seeing others photos or hearing their news.

·         We have control over who sees our information.

·         The applications are intuitive — there's no training required.

·         The applications are well-tuned to support the specific tasks we want to perform and their features are regularly rated and refined.

In contrast, the social networks used in many corporates today has a distinctly different cultural context and level of performance.

·         Often we're instructed to use it by someone in authority, rather than invited by friends.

·         Little of what we actually get paid to do requires information or input from the vast majority of other people on the network.

·         Participation feels like dropping pearls into a black hole — there's often no sense of getting something in return for sharing an idea or suggestion.

·         We have no control over who sees our information and little idea what "they" are doing with it.

·         The site is unattractive and requires a manual to get started.

·         The software is generic and requires a work-around to do the specific things we would really like to do.