*As seen in BRW

Following the release of the iD’s Intranet Benchmarking Survey results, BRW made the following commentary regarding companies’ adoption of much-hyped social networking tools.

‘Despite the hype and promise surrounding Web 2.0 technologies, support from managers for social networking sites declined over the past 12 months. Thirty per cent of surveyed organizations say they have no interest in supporting such technologies, up from 25 per cent in the previous year.’

Of the 455 respondents to the Intranet Benchmarking Survey 2008, only 7 per cent are using social networking tools, while another 41 per cent expressed interest in the technology but have yet to complete an implementation. The survey, conducted by web technology vendor, Intranet Dashboard, also found that adoption rates of Web 2.0 functionality had dropped or stagnated over the same period. Half of the respondents to the Intranet Dashboard survey were from Australia and New Zealand, the rest based globally.

These results mimic findings by a global survey commissioned by Microsoft-Accenture joint venture Avenade, in which 60 per cent of respondents say integrating social media technologies is not in their plans. This is despite the fact that 75 per cent of respondents recognized social networking was already working its way into their business by stealth, and 90 per cent said they expected it to arrive with the next generation of employees.

Roughly half the respondents to the Avenade study expressed concern the social media technologies would have a negative impact on productivity, although about 60 per cent suggested such technology would lead to improved levels of customer satisfaction and an improved reputation in the market place. IT research director for Frost and Sullivan, Andrew Milroy, suggests the most strategic approach is for companies to encourage employees to use social media. “Some companies are writing it off too soon, rather than looking for how it might help to improve productivity,” he says. “It will become increasingly useful in the corporate space, and having employees who understand how the technologies work will be a clear benefit.”