Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Corporate Social Networking Sites Modes of Use and Appropriation through Co-Evolution

Presentation at ACIS 2009 Melbourne, 2.12.2009

Alexander Richter, Kai Riemer

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Outline

1. Basics: Social Networking Sites

2. Research goal

3. Methodology

4. Results

5. Outlook

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Social Networking Sites in a nutshell

Finding other users

Create personal profile

Add as contact

Exchange viewsIdentity management

People search Contact management

Network awareness(implicit exchange)

(Explicit) exchange

Create common context

Context awareness

Social Networking Sites (SNS) are web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. (Boyd and Ellison 2007)

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

“the best experts are distributed across the globe”

Motivation und aim

“software for supporting communication, coordination and cooperation processes becomes backbone infrastructure for contemporary E-Work”

“… technology-enabled work contexts present a range of management challenges both in relation to the technical and the social dimensions”

Exploring the adoption and use of Social Networking Sites (SNS) in a corporate context

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Adoption and use of open, public SNS

IntranetWWW

?Adoption and use of

Corporate SNS

From the World Wide Web into the Intranet

Adoption and use of Groupware

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Data collection

Data points:IBM

Bluepages

SAP

Harmony

Accenture

People

Pages

Interviews with

responsibles2 2 2

Interviews

with users8 6 8

Internal Documents XExternal Documents

Participant observation

(during use of the SNS)

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Adapted from (Yin 1994)

Develop theory

Select cases

Design data collection protocol

Conduct first case study

Conduct second case study

Write individual case report

Draw cross case conclusions

Write cross case report

Design Collect and analyse Cross case analysis

Write individual case report

Conduct third case study

Write individual case report

Open SNS

Groupware

This paper is a spin-off of a larger cross-case study

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Cases (exemplary)

• 1998: Bluepages

• Technology Adoption Program

• 2006: Fringe / Bluepages + 1

• 2009: Rebrand: Lotus Connections Profiles (widget based)

• 2006: six monthly Design and development phase (Design und Innovation Team Palo Alto)

• Middle of 2007: Pilot run from Palo Alto

• Middle of 2008: Transfer- as pilot – to a wordwide responsible

(similar: Accenture People Pages)

IBM Bluepages SAP Harmony

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Main modes of use

IBM Bluepages SAP Harmony Accenture People PagesIdentify experts

„If BP did not exist, then I would have some problems, then I would have to run the hallways here to find out who is potentially in a team or the backup of someone or who is the manager.”

„What the human resource system says about you isn’t who you really are. It says only ‘I work in this team, I work in this group’ […]. Harmony describes a lot about who you really are and the people you work with.”

„I think that it is important to be able to click on links within people’s pages to documents that they’ve published and links to other people who have worked on similar projects or in similar roles”

• Identify experts• Create common context

F inding other us ers

F inding other us ers

C reate pers onal

profile

C reate pers onal

profile

„B efriending “„B efriending “

E xc hang e views

E xc hang e views

Identity manag ement

P eople s earc h C ontac t

manag ement

Network Awarenes s(implic it exc hang e)

(E xplic it) exc hang e

C reate c ommon c ontext

C reate c ommon c ontext

C ontext Awarenes s

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Main modes of use

IBM Bluepages SAP Harmony Accenture People PagesCreate common context „It’s saving me quite

some running… But it also satisfies my curiosity. [...] If I phoned somebody, I want to see afterwards with whom I’ve actually spoken.”

„I like the Who-Harmonizes-Function. It‘s very helpful to find other people with some interests and tasks in our company. This is an incentive for me.

“[…] you can quickly get a perspective of who you’re working with/speaking with; also, as it contains information like hobbies/interests, it’s often easy to strike up a conversation to build more of a bond.”

• Identify experts• Create common context

F inding other us ers

F inding other us ers

C reate pers onal

profile

C reate pers onal

profile

„B efriending “„B efriending “

E xc hang e views

E xc hang e views

Identity manag ement

P eople s earc h C ontac t

manag ement

Network Awarenes s(implic it exc hang e)

(E xplic it) exc hang e

C reate c ommon c ontext

C reate c ommon c ontext

C ontext Awarenes s

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Modes of use

IBM Bluepages SAP Harmony Accenture People PagesFostering existing relationships „For me that is modern

voyeurism […] It’s rather unpleasant if I enter something and everybody notices immediately what new thing I have.“

„I’m respecting what Harmony knows about me. If Harmony knows it, my boss, my colleagues and human resources know it […]“

„It doesn’t impact me to know what other people are up to. For instance, on Facebook, I don’t care to know the status of someone who is ‘picking their nose’ or ‘on a plane’. Perhaps if someone is on vacation, I would be interested to know their status..“

• Identify experts• Create common context• Fostering existing relationships

F inding other us ers

F inding other us ers

C reate pers onal

profile

C reate pers onal

profile

„B efriending “„B efriending “

E xc hang e views

E xc hang e views

Identity manag ement

P eople s earc h C ontac t

manag ement

Network Awarenes s(implic it exc hang e)

(E xplic it) exc hang e

C reate c ommon c ontext

C reate c ommon c ontext

C ontext Awarenes s

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

• Main form of use in the public sphere: – Stay in contact with friends or colleagues – Communication: immediate exchanges, messaging– Identity management: self presentation– Social searching (learning about one’s social network)

• In the corporate sphere (“behind the firewall”)– Focus on: identification of experts and establishing a joint context– Communication: people can draw on other, established tools for

getting in contact (e.g. Instant Messaging integrated with SNS)– Identity management: focused, professional profile to enable

search, but not an end in itself. People tend to be cautious.

Public vs. corporate social networking

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

• SNSs are open platforms– Features do not predispose particular forms of use– People need time and a shared context to explore SNSs– Network effects and critical mass barriers hamper adoption

• The concept of co-evolution– Rather than deploying new platforms as additional offerings…– …grow social software features from inside existing platforms

• IBM bluepages

– Usage practices can gradually co-evolve with the introduction of new features – experimentation happens in context

Adoption and diffusion of SNSs

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

• Current problems of social software/media (1):– Deployment of new social technologies leads to YAP

phenomenon (yet another platform – and password) lack of adoption and use

– Adds to existing media choice problems (which medium should I use in any given situation)

• Co-evolution helps circumvent the YAP problem– Confrontation with the ‘new and foreign object’ can be circumvented and

users can appropriate the technology more naturally, as their ICT-enabled work practices evolve with the step-wise changes of the technology.

– Strategies by platform vendors: e.g. Salesforce “Chatter”

Implications for Social Technology field

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

• Current problems of social software/media (2):– Corporate decision makers are worried that they will import the

hedonistic, leisurely forms of use (procrastination) typically associated with ‘social’ technologies

• Social technologies are open platforms– Technologies do not determine behaviour – People appropriate the technologies in their work context

• Outlook:– Further studies on other social media technologies: – Enterprise Microblogging

Implications for Social Technology field

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Outlook

Integration into the social context

Awareness (in combination with microblogging)

“…across organizations.”

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Thank you for

your attention.

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Backup

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

1. Identitätsmanagement

StartseitePersönliches FotoProfildatenKompetenzenBerichtslinieDatenfreischaltungAktivitätsstatusPrivatsphäreDatenimport, Schnittstelle WebauftrittDruckfunktion

2. Expertensuche

SchnellsucheSuchoptionenSuchanfragenVerlinkungen von Tags

3. Kontextawareness

Vorgeschlagene KontaktePersonen im KontextProfil-Besucher

4. Kontaktmanagement

BekanntschaftskontextTaggingVisualisierung der KontaktevCards

5. Netzwerkawareness

NewsfeedStatusmeldungen

6. Gemeinsamer Austausch

Messaging-FunktionGruppenfunktionGästebuchZusatzmodule- Blogs- Wikis- Social Bookmarking- Calendar-Sharing- Instant Messaging- Foren

8. Unterstützende Funktionen

ExportmöglichkeitenBenutzerschnittstellenSprachenWird Mehrsprachigkeit unterstützt?DesignBesonderheiten

7. Eigenschaften der Softwarelösungen

VersionMarkteinführungSoftware oder ServiceImplementierungReferenzenSupportPreis

A framework for Social Networking Services

(Geneme 2009)

Basics Goal Methodology Results Outlook

Design parameters