Social networking site for social responsibility project

Case 18

Social Networking and Social Responsibility

The Beginnings of Social Networking

Early social- networking web sites started in the form of generalized online communities such as The WELL (1985), Theglobe .com (1994), Geocities (1994)

and Tripod .com (1995). The goal of these online communities was bringing people together to interact in virtual “chat rooms” to share personal information and ideas, which served as the start of the “blogging” phenomenon. These sites included Classmates .com (1995), focusing on ties with former peers, and SixDegrees .com (1997), which focused on indirect ties. The sites had the capabilities of creating user profi les; sending messages to users stored on a “friends list”; and searching for other members with similar interests in their profiles. Although some of these features predated these web sites, this was the first time such functions were available in one package.

Between 2002 and 2004, four social networking sites (SNSs) emerged as

the most pop u lar form of these sites in the world: Friendster in 2002 (which

Google tried to acquire in 2003), MySpace and LinkedIn a year later, and fi nally,

Bebo. By 2005, MySpace had emerged as the largest such site and was reportedly

getting more page views than Google. Facebook emerged in 2004 and grew

exponentially. In 2005, Facebook opened to the non- U.S. college community and

created externally developed applications that enabled graphing of a user’s own

social network and the capability of linking social networks and networking.

A Growing Global Trend

Social networking continues to be one of the fastest- growing global trends. According to Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, “the number of those using social networking sites has nearly doubled since 2008 and

the population of SNS users has gotten older.” Fifty- nine percent of Internet users

claim to use at least one SNS— 92% of SNS users use Facebook, 29% use

MySpace, 18% use LinkedIn, and 13% use Twitter. Most people in the world

today have either heard of or actively use Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn,

or one of the many other SNSs available to the public. Common uses for social

networking include: staying connected with fellow users, following world news

and gossip, and sharing opinions and life experiences. SNSs, however, are being

used for commercial purposes often unknown to the user.

Social Networking in the Corporate World

Businesses gravitated toward social networking as an innovative marketing

strategy around March 2005 when Yahoo launched Yahoo! 360°. Various SNSs

have since sprung up catering to different languages and countries. It is estimated

that there are now over 200 SNSs using these existing and emerging social networking technologies. This number does not include the niche social networks

made possible by ser vices such as Ning. Twitter, launched in 2006, has eclipsed many other social network ser vices, even though it lacks some features that were considered essential aspects of a SNS.

Social networking allows businesses to place their company information

within an online network to build contacts and relationships with individuals that

share the same interests and insights. It creates an outlet for interactive communication using online communities. The tools available also allow businesses to reach millions of people in a short amount of time, usually with no cost attached. Companies have found that SNSs such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive, there are fi ve major uses for businesses and social media: 1) to create brand awareness; 2) as an online reputation management tool; 3) for recruiting; 4) to learn about new technologies and competitors; and 5) as a lead- generation tool to intercept potential prospects. These companies are able to drive traffic to their own online sites, while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to improve or change products or ser vices.

Companies and advertising firms use the sites to analyze consumer trends,

opinions, and influence consumers to view their products favorably. Is this practice

of tracking user information without their knowledge ethical? Some companies

might state that they are simply trying to leverage social networking to create

a creative work environment for their employees and offer a better product to

consumers. IBM is a company that uses social networking in both ways. The

ethical implications of social networking and consumers as influencers are much

clearer when we take a closer look at how a company like IBM uses social networking in its daily operations.

Social Networking at IBM

International Business Machines, or IBM, is one of the most notable companies

operating in the world today. According to their company profi le, IBM was

founded in 1910 and currently employs over 440,885 full- time employees in 200

countries tasked with manufacturing and selling computer hardware and software,

as well as infrastructure, hosting, and consulting ser vices in areas ranging

from mainframe computers to nanotechnology. The company’s fi ve segments of

operations include: Global Technology Ser vices, Global Business Ser vices,

Software, Systems and Technology, and Global Financing. IBM, as a world leader

in computers and computer software, has a unique method for understanding and

applying new technologies for solving technical business problems and leveraging

new technologies in the technology sector. The use of social media and

social networking is no different. Companies continue to fi nd ways to use social

media sites like Facebook and Twitter to increase their bottom line. At IBM, social

networking has already been implemented to generate new ideas, increase employee morale, monitor consumer trends, and increase visibility and sales for the

company.

Social networking at IBM is publicly advertised as a creative and innovative

way to keep employees connected and keep the company in tune with consumer

demands. The framework for internal social networking among IBM employees is an employee- edited directory known as “Blue Pages.” This directory is used over 6 million times a day by 400,000 IBM employees to access information on

other employees and send them instant messages. Employees at IBM have control

over their profi les and can add photos, resumes, or other personal information

to foster a sense of community with other IBM employees. The company

points to the sharing of ideas or opinions on new technologies and developments

as one of the main advantages of such a site.

IBM also offers an internal network space where employees can post blogs

for other employees to read. Blog topics range from personal opinions on various

technologies to updates on work that is being done by different groups within the

company. The blogs offer a unique way for employees to communicate with each

other and keep current on company events.

Wikis

Another element of social networking within IBM is information- storing web sites

called wikis. The leaders of the various software production teams at IBM manage

these wikis and allow team members to share memos and other information

for the entire team to view. Each team member can share his or her progress with

the other team members through these wikis, allowing team leaders to monitor

the entire project without having to contact each team member directly. The major

advantage of this outlet is that IBM employees may work from home or other locations without having to travel to a single destination in order to complete a project. This is especially important for the 42% of IBM employees that regularly

work from locations other than IBM facilities.

IBM has a policy in place that strictly forbids any employee from joining the

company’s social- networking platforms anonymously. This ensures that every

comment or post made by an IBM employee is transparent to other employees

in the company. The onus is on the employees to police themselves and forward

any inappropriate comments or posts to upper management.

While these social- networking tools attempt to connect employees, IBM has

also leveraged social media to stay connected with customers. IBM developed a

social media monitoring software known as the SPSS Modeler, which the company

uses to search for customer comments, sentiments, and opinions on various

social- networking platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and online blogs. This tool

can mine through large piles of data searching for specifi c text, industry terms,

or developing technology that may be pertinent to IBM’s customers. IBM uses

this information to stay up- to- date with the latest trends and consumer behaviors.

If consumers have positive or negative opinions about IBM products, the company

can track the feedback and make changes accordingly.

IBM has also developed a software known as Cognos Consumer Insight,

which can perform predictive analytics on the text and data that the SPSS Modeler

can pull from Twitter, Facebook, etc. This technology takes the data collected

by the SPSS Modeler from the SNSs, analyzes the consumer sentiment, and

makes predictive analytical decisions based on the information it is viewing. In

essence, the computer software is a form of artificial intelligence that performs the job of marketing analysts. IBM uses this software internally, but also sells it to other large companies and retailers, along with the ser vices necessary for these companies to learn how to analyze the data. Some companies already using this IBM technology are Rosetta Stone, Navy Federal Credit Union, and Money Mailer.

The ingenuity and resourcefulness displayed by IBM leveraging social media

tools to enhance their business is a reminder that thinking creatively can benefi t

even the largest companies. The use of social networking within the company

helps to generate new ideas and develop a sense of camaraderie among the

employees at minimal cost to IBM. Employees are allowed to develop a personal

identity and share their stories and experiences through blogs and personal profi

les. For a company that thrives on creativity and new technology, social networking is the perfect way to share ideas and opinions without the limitations that come from simple e-mail correspondence.

Using Social Media for Consumer Data Collection

The ethical implications of using social networking to monitor consumer demands

are far more complex. Unlike using social networking internally to generate

discussion among employees bounded by rules and policies, external uses

of SNSs allow IBM to monitor what consumers are saying without consumers

knowing that they are being monitored. Although this is not an illegal practice

because the information is publically posted on social media platforms, the question must be asked, is it ethical? IBM is openly developing and selling their software to other companies so that they, too, can track consumer sentiment through social networking and make key business decisions based on information that consumers are sharing on the Internet. The term used by IBM’s vice president

for social business and collaboration solutions, Sandy Carter is “analytics.” Carter

prefers to focus on the positive results that social networking has within the company, but also admits that analytics has become a key component of “tracking

sentiments, and fi nding out how the community is feeling about an issue.” She

goes on to say that IBM uses “deep analytic capability to fi nd out what is being

said. Then we look at affinities.” IBM can track users tweeting about the company,

users that are the most influential tweeters, and so on. Tracking these types

of postings allows the company to make decisions based on consumer feedback

without the consumers ever knowing that they influenced the decision. Carter

does not condemn the company’s decision to use social media to analyze consumer

decisions, and justifies the practice by making the argument that whether

or not your company participates in social media or monitors consumer sentiment,

most brands are already openly discussed by consumers, so you might as