To the surprise of many sceptics, social networking is moving to the workplace, writes Karlin Lillington.
So-called Web 2.0 social software applications such as weblogs, wikis, chat forums and instant messaging let users easily communicate with each other and with groups, and manage and share information in a highly interactive way.
Forms of these applications are becoming mainstream, and are incorporated into what IBM calls its social computing platform – in particular, software in its Lotus products like Connections and Quickr.
Much of this software is developed in IBM’s Dublin Software Lab, where some 300 of the 880 IBM developers in Ireland are now working on social computing and advanced collaboration tools, according to IBM. And far from being experimental software that businesses are wary to try out, Connections is actually “the fastest selling software product, ever, at IBM”, says Mike Roche, the chief architect at the Dublin Software Lab.
The Dublin developers are also spearheading what he calls “social search” – a search feature that returns search results incorporating relevant sites that friends, family or colleagues within an organisation have recommended.
For example, if someone bookmarks a webpage on their web browser, or adds a link to their profile page, such pages will be given priority on search returns. The likelihood that a webpage on a topic is of interest would likely be increased if a colleague has bookmarked it already, says Roche.
“We’re using social networking tools to find out what the real structure is of a working group or organisation,” Roche says. While job titles may indicate who should be in charge on a project or carry a certain role, the reality is often that some other individual is the most productive in a given capacity and the flow of discussion and data through a social network will reveal that structure.
Such information might help managers to reassign people to more productive or satisfying roles.
So, if you are searching for information in the company, results are filtered in a more intelligent way,” he says. “You can look at a document and see who has been accessing and commenting on it. You can then click in on the people for their profiles and use the software to explore your social organisation. You will see the people most active in the social networking space.”
He adds that this enables workers “to leverage the power of their social network – if my manager has liked or prioritised something, it’s probably something I want to see”.
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