Social Networks - Why You Should Care

Please note that this post is from 2008. Evaluate with care and in light of later events.

Slaw: Social Networks – Why You Should Care:

How can you leverage emerging knowledge about social networking? Here are some suggestions:

1. Use social sites for screening applicants
2. Use social sites for alumni (Hill and Knowlton and Siemens did this instead of creating their own internal alumni databases)
3. Use social sites for recruitment (Ernst & Young does this to stay in touch with thousands of young recruits)
4. Keep an eye on your brand on social media – deep web search (several Firms have been hit by this – there is also an opportunity for law firms here to help protect clients)
5. Look for internal opportunities to use social media (start small) – inside (intranets) and with clients (extranets)
6. Consider (seriously) social tagging of internal resources
7. Map your social networks / understand them (Hill and Knowlton, various accounting and consulting firms have done this with surprising results)
8. Consider networking as a framework for: Expertise location; Knowledge location; Learning; Mentoring; Etc.
9. Use social network analysis as a tool for accelerating integration post merger / acquisition
10. Use social network analysis to look for opportunities outside of the organization – some firms are mining patent filings and research publications to map opportunities for partnerships and acquisitions.