Connecting Organizational Silos: Taking Knowledge Flow Management to the Next Level with Social Media

MOTIVATIONS

Why does an organization want to get started with social media internally? There is a whole range of reasons why. Social media is currently getting towards the peak of a hype curve, so one reason to at least look into it is because everybody else seems to be going there. The effects of those tools have been seen on the external web for quite some time and there has been a lot said and written about the potential value—as well as the dangers—of using social media platforms. As a result, an almost natural step is to examine how one could benefit from these tools internally as well.

A first approach in that line of thinking concerns the question “Should I allow members of my organization to be involved in external social media platforms?” The answer to that question very often includes discussions about the potential dangers, as an organization’s sensitive internal information might slip out a lot more easily. Consequently, the next stage of thinking concerns the idea of providing a similar tool for internal use, so internal information would actually stay inside the organization’s firewall, but still be shared. So the second reason could be framed as offering a safer environment for a social-media–type interaction.

With the growth of social media as a tool to increase awareness of a company, its products, and services comes a need for a better understanding of those tools and processes. People involved in initiatives to run an organization’s presence on external social ...