Social Networks - Why You Should Care

Slaw: Social Networks — Why You Should Care:

How can you lever­age emerg­ing knowl­edge about social net­work­ing? Here are some suggestions:

1. Use social sites for screen­ing applicants
2. Use social sites for alumni (Hill and Knowlton and Siemens did this instead of cre­at­ing their own inter­nal alumni databases)
3. Use social sites for recruit­ment (Ernst & Young does this to stay in touch with thou­sands of young recruits)
4. Keep an eye on your brand on social media – deep web search (sev­eral Firms have been hit by this — there is also an oppor­tu­nity for law firms here to help pro­tect clients)
5. Look for inter­nal oppor­tu­ni­ties to use social media (start small) — inside (intranets) and with clients (extranets)
6. Consider (seri­ously) social tag­ging of inter­nal resources
7. Map your social net­works /​ under­stand them (Hill and Knowlton, var­i­ous account­ing and con­sult­ing firms have done this with sur­pris­ing results)
8. Consider net­work­ing as a frame­work for: Expertise loca­tion; Knowledge loca­tion; Learning; Mentoring; Etc.
9. Use social net­work analy­sis as a tool for accel­er­at­ing inte­gra­tion post merger /​ acqui­si­tion
10. Use social net­work analy­sis to look for oppor­tu­ni­ties out­side of the orga­ni­za­tion — some firms are min­ing patent fil­ings and research pub­li­ca­tions to map oppor­tu­ni­ties for part­ner­ships and acquisitions.