There was an interesting study reported in the Communications Strategist blog on the uses of social media by management. In July 2009, Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law undertook a research study to look at how business leaders view social media and its role in their organizations – see Social Media: Embracing the Opportunities, Averting the Risk. I blogged about it a bit on FastForward but here are more details.

The study found that fifty-one percent of executives surveyed said they fear social media could be detrimental to employee productivity, while 49 percent assert that using social media could damage company reputation.

Apparently with these fears in mind the following reasons that management uses social media were reported. The top reason is to read what customer might be saying about the company (52%). Next was to monitor a competitor’s use of social media (47%). Third was to see what their employees may be sharing, The fourth reason was to check on the background of prospective employees (25%). Thee reasons seems to bring in the vast majority of management into the social media space as only 16% said they use social media for personal use or not at all.

However, as the Communications Strategist noted, these were mostly defensive uses. For example, what about engaging in conversation with employees, customers, and the market in general. They also seem to display a lurker mentality. You really need to more fully engage to understand how social media might help the enterprise. The study also points out the many studies that show a rise in the use of social media should look closely at the reasons the various social media are being used.

This is especially important since despite their apprehensions, social networking is being viewed as a key strategy. According study, eight in 10 senior management, human resource and marketing executives believe social media can enhance relationships with customers/clients (81%) and build brand reputation (81%). Almost 70 percent feel such networking can be valuable in recruitment (69%), as a customer service tool (64%) and used to enhance employee morale (46%). The most popular vehicles being used include Facebook (80%), Twitter (66%), YouTube (55%), LinkedIn (49%) and blogs (43%). However, they seem to leave active participation to employees and simply want to monitor what is happening for various reasons noted above.

It was also interesting to read that, in fact, the majority of those surveyed who are not using social media on a corporate basis say this is primarily because they simply do not know enough about it. Again, the best way to learn is to engage.

So does your management use social media? If, so, how do they use social media? If you are management how do you use social media?

Comments

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 at 8:30 am and is filed under Uncategorized. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

About the Author: Dr. Bill Ives is an independent consultant and writer who has worked with Fortune 100 companies in business uses of emerging technologies for over 20 years. For several years he led the Knowledge Management Practice for a large consulting firm.. Now he primarily helps companies with their business blogs. He is also the VP of Social Media and blogger for TVissimo, a new TV schedule search engine. Prior to consulting, Dr. Ives was a Research Associate at Harvard University exploring the effects of media on cognition. He obtained his Ph. D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Toronto. Bill can be reached at his blog: Portals and KM. He also writes for the FastForward blog and the AppGap blog.