There has been a paradigm shift in the way people communicate and interact and, social networks are at the core of this shift. The underlying capabilities and drivers behind the most successful of these social networks can and should have the same impact in business communication and performance. Ardent Partners has published a new report that takes a forward-looking view of the top social networking platforms in the context of the work environment and highlights the social networking capabilities that have the greatest chance to reshape Supply Management operations in the years ahead. The report is sponsored by Basware and is available for download here (registration required).

For a large segment of society, social networks have redefined personal communication and changed the way that people interact with one another. The impact of these social networks and associated media has been so deep and so broad that the who, what, where, when, and how of interpersonal exchanges have all been radically transformed in a relatively short period of time. These sites are also wildly popular and many of the most prominent, like Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Wikipedia are household names and rank among the most visited sites on the internet. Beyond the “brand names” in social networking, there are many different types of sites like messaging, file-sharing, or video services, blogs, gaming, and rating or dating sites that also fall into the social network or media category. And, while the focus, offerings, services, and members of these social networks can be quite unique, it is these exact facets that make them extraordinarily valuable to the members of each network or community.

The impact and reach of social networks cannot be debated. In the time that it will take to go get a coffee (estimated at 10 minutes), 1.4 million “tweets” will be sent, 2.7 million Facebook users will log in to check their account, and 14 million YouTube videos will be played. These numbers do not lie – in the consumer world, social networks are here to stay. The question that remains is how this will impact business?

That is a question we’ll address in our next article or two – for those interested in more details sooner and a series of use case examples of how social networking capabilities can impact the B2B / Supply Management segment, download the report now.

Postscript: To be honest, we think this is a very interesting topic and that the report is a pretty good read. Also, we’re curious to know what you think about this topic – drop us a line or leave a note here….

Tagged in: Ardent Partners Research, Networks, Predictions, Social Media, Technology, Transformation