So like a lot of people today I use social networking tools like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and yes occasionally MySpace (only because Justin Timberlake said I should) to communicate, learn and sometimes just pass the time. I have to admit I do like being able to invade people’s private lives without having to even have a conversation! (and sometimes some very good debates can be had).

A few months back I joined Yammer which is targeted at the corporate space and requires using your work email account to sign-up. As I tell my friends, co-workers and really anyone I come in contact with “you must manage the message or it will manage you! I even created a section in my blog to collect ideas around this concept. Basically the rule of thumb I follow is target your usage of these things to the appropriate audience and always know regardless of the policies of Facebook, Google or any other… your post, pictures, shared items, all are all attached to your on-line presence. Once you hit the “send” or “post” button there is a very real risk that sometime in the future that picture or snide remark will be known or accessible at the least appropriate time and by the least appropriate person.

Most days, (as I do for Facebook and Twitter) I don’t post a lot. I typically see if anyone is posting their own thoughts or events going on in their lives and occasionally I might comment. My company Yammer group for the most part has been posts about general things going on with projects or the occasional congratulatory remark. But for the most part has been pretty static.

But today a statement was made about Yammer being used by the CEO of a company to interact with his employees better. I had some comments specific to our company I will include here in a minute, but in considering this I thought this would be good topic to do a quick write up and see if I can generate any real thoughts on the subject. I mean most have some form an intranet, email, IM and in some cases forums (although I would argue if your company is using a forum then you are ahead of the curve already…) Do we really need to also adopt social media in the workplace in addition to what we already are doing? When is enough, enough?

As promised here is what I had to say about the use of social media tools like Yammer in the workplace.

Until these mediums of communication are used for more than “pats on the back” or to restate the same information that is found on our intranet sites or email blasts. The culture from the business side will not see the value or take serious the option of transitioning to using yammer, Facebook or any other social media to interact. We in IT need to continue to push that these mediums can be useful and provide real value but even internally we are not very good. We tend to only focus on the Information part of our roles in the company and discount that our real value is the technology we should be providing. I have been with the company for 18 years and things continue to move in good directions but if we are truly striving to move the chains in this arena we have to engage in more than just “good job” posts and post with purpose and substance.

Anyway, would love to read some actual thoughts on this subject. Why you’re at it, take a look at my other ramblings here and let me know what you think there as well!