Businesses get lesson in social skills

Businesses looking at social networking technology should make sure their goals have the potential to attract a community that generates content as well as provide tangible business benefits.

That's according to analyst house Gartner IT, which says many tech managers pursue social networking projects without really knowing what they want to get out of them. It said 30 per cent of business-focused social communities it encountered featured activity that failed to provide business value and could even be counterproductive.

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Gartner has come up with a number of characteristics successful social network projects should have and which companies should bear in mind when pursuing social technology projects.

The majority of content should come from users - rather than the business running the network - or a project will risk being nothing more than a new corporate communications method.

Corporate social projects should also attract people while at the same time being "aligned with business value" to direct or indirectly benefit the business.

In addition, social projects should start out as low-risk projects - in terms of investment or time, for example - until the community gains momentum.

The scope of business social networks should also be limited at first so businesses can focus on growing the community before broadening what it can achieve.

Gartner recommends IT departments come up with a purpose roadmap so the organisation and community knows how to build on the initial objectives and broaden its scope.

The success of social network projects should also be measurable so organisations can accurately keep track of progress.

Gartner analyst, Anthony Bradley, said a carefully chosen purpose will encourage participants to make the community productive but widespread adoption will only happen once the benefits have been illustrated by early adopters.