Harnessing the Power and Potential of Social Networks

Harnessing the Power and Potential of Social Networks

Research and Markets / Guinness Centre, Taylors Lane, Dublin 8, Ireland / October 31 2008.

Todays corporations are keen to invest in promising social network technologies and services. IT departments are being called upon to help their organizations embrace this emerging trend. However, in order to harness the opportunities social networks present, you must first gain a deeper knowledge of social networks, including an understanding of how they work and their inherent power.

Harnessing the Power and Potential of Social Networks examines how social networks are evolving and discusses their power and potential -- things you need to know before you define your corporate social networking strategy. This report takes a comprehensive look at social networks and reviews some of their major applications. It then explores what social networks have to offer IT professionals, enterprises, and entrepreneurs. Finally, it discusses some of the limitations and risks involved with social networks, such as harnessing social networks for advertising.

This report will help you:

- Make use of social networks in your own organization for internal and customer-facing applications
- Explore the key characteristics of successful social networking sites
- Determine which approach to take when creating your social network
- Consider new value-added features and services that will be competitive differentiators for your social network
- Gain an understanding of the staggering valuation of sites such as Facebook
- Create a trusted social network environment
- Identify some of the privacy and security problems encountered by users
- Appreciate the draw of social networks for the individual, including the desire to develop ones own social capital for personal and professional goals
- Leverage social network analysis and the 'social graph'
- Identify how IT can help address the risks and challenges of social networks

Youll explore 7 key requirements to building and maintaining a powerful social network. Youll gain an overview of related 'social' terms that harness the collective contribution of users, such as social bookmarking, social citations, social computing, and more. And youll learn how to build the infrastructure needed for searching and mining information scattered in social networks.

Plus, youll discover how to avoid online manipulation, misrepresentation, and anonymous sock puppeting in social networks. And youll explore the dark side of social networks, including dangers, risks, and privacy and security issues.

Finally, this report looks at the future of social networks, identifying and discussing several yet-to-be explored trends and potential opportunities. It considers the emergence of A-list, invitation-only social networks and it explores various business and professional social networks, such as Doostang, LinkedIn, SiliconIndia, and others.

Table Of Contents

Chapter 1. Your Guide to Understanding the Evolution, Power, and Potential of Online Social Networks

- What Is Social Networking
- Platforms and Tools for Developing Online Social Networks
- Enriching Networks with Value-Added Features and Competitive Differentiators
- Features of an Effective Social Network
- Analyzing Your Social Network
- Application of Social Networks
- Understanding the Basics
- The Dark Side of Social Networks
- The Future of Social Networks
- Emerging Trends and Opportunities
- Social Networking and the Business
- IT Opportunities in Social Networks

Chapter 2. Can User-Generated Online Content Sell Your Product?

- Eric K. Clemons
- Rob Austin
- Tom DeMarco
- Ron Blitstein
- Lou Mazzucchelli
- Lynne Ellyn
- Tim Lister
- Christine Davis
- Ken Orr

Chapter 3. How Social Computing Is Redefining Content

- Documents
- Memes
- The Web as a Platform

Chapter 4. Mining Blogs for Business Benefits

- The Social Connection in Blogs
- Some Benefits of Corporate Blogging
- A Suggestive Approach for Blog Mining
- Vendor Scan

Source(s)

[http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reportinfo.asp?report_id=660386&t=d&cat_id=]

[http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reportinfo.asp?report_id=660386&t=t&cat_id=]

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Network Citizens: Power And Responsibility At Work

Network Citizens: Power And Responsibility At Work
Humans are social animals, spinning intricate webs of relationships with friends, colleagues, neighbours and enemies. These networks have always been with us, but the advance of networking technologies, changes to our interconnected economy and an altering job market have super-charged the power of networking, catapulting it to the heart of organisational thinking.

Social networks are providing tremendous opportunities for people to collaborate. But until now, thinking has focused only on how organisations can respond to and capitalise on networks. This report argues that we have to look equally at how networks use organisations for their own ends. That is where the new contours of inequality and power lie that will shape the network world. We have to face networks’ dark side, as well as their very real potential.

Bringing together in-depth case studies of six organisations, Network Citizens maps the key fault-lines that people and organisations will have to address in the future world of work. Not doing so puts at risk the very qualities we had invested in them: openness, innovation, collaboration and meritocracy. Since networks can act for good or ill, incubating the talents and ideas of the many, or promoting the interests of the few, the need for a new set of responsibilities is growing. If we are network members, we must be network citizens, too.

[http://www.demos.co.uk/publications//networkcitizens]

Full Text Available At

[http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Network%20citizens%20-%20web.pdf]

News Coverage

BBC: Bosses 'Should Embrace Facebook'

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7695716.stm]

ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology 2008 / Use of Social Networking Sites

The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008 (ID: ERS0808)

Gail Salaway (EDUCAUSE) and Judith Borreson Caruso (University of Wisconsin-Madison) /With: Mark R. Nelson (NACS)

Introduction by: Nicole Ellison (Michigan State University)

CMS, Net Generation Learner, Social Computing, social networks, Student IT Competencies, Students

Documents Contributed by ECAR, Research Studies (10/21/2008)

Abstract: This 2008 ECAR research study is a longitudinal extension of the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 ECAR studies of students and information technology. The study is based on quantitative data from a spring 2008 survey of 27,317 freshmen and seniors at 90 four-year institutions and eight two-year institutions; student focus groups that included input from 75 students at four institutions; and analysis of qualitative data from 5,877 written responses to open-ended questions. In addition to studying student ownership, experience, behaviors, preferences, and skills with respect to information technologies, the 2008 study also includes

A Special Focus on Student Participation in Social Networking Sites [CHAPTER 6]

Citation for this work: Salaway, Gail and Caruso, Judith B., with Mark R. Nelson. The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008 (Research Study, Vol. 8). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008)

Table of Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1 / Executive Summary

Chapter 2 / Introduction: Reshaping Campus Communication and Community through Social Network Sites

Chapter 3 / Methodology and Respondent Characteristics

Chapter 4 / Ownership of, Use of, and Skill with IT

Chapter 5 / IT and the Academic Experience

Chapter 6 / SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Appendix A / Acknowledgments

Appendix B / Students and Information Technology in Higher Education: 2008 Survey Questionnaire

Appendix C /Qualitative Interview Questions

Appendix D / Participating Institutions and Survey Response Rates

Appendix E / Bibliography

Key Findings
[http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EKF/EKF0808.pdf]

Roadmap
[http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ECM/ECM0808.pdf]

Survey Instrument
[http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/si/ESI08a.pdf]

Full-Text
HTML/PDF [http://www.educause.edu/ers0808/135156]

PDF [http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERS0808/RS/ERS0808w.pdf]

Source
[http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ECAR/TheECARStudyofUndergradua/47485]