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    <title><![CDATA[Discussion on Facebook mentality coming to business apps ]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383]]></link>
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    <lastBuildDate>2013-06-18T00:18:53-07:00</lastBuildDate>
             

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        <title><![CDATA[Lighting incense - millions do it]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512639]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I'm with you on the motives behind any 'new' concept a big company might employ to increase profits. Facebook et al.There appears to be a divide in this discussion which is more about a worker's perception of what they would like their 'perfect' world view rather than the whether such technologies make any difference to the profit or success in the corporate arena. 'Google' workplace has been quoted, and has anybody stopped to think how 'Facebook' stands to profit from your 'existence' there? Why do you think Microsoft purchased a 1.6% stake in Facebook? BillG is a philanthropist, but you can bet that's not why M$ wants a piece of the action.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512639]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ergo we surrender.]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:04:39 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I think I'm human- but I'm wasting my company time here!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512537]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[My company policy doesn't allow 'surfing, humanizing, or feel good personal browsing' during business (read - potential profit)  making time. So I'm either reading and replying here in my own time, or I'm breaching the company policy. Hey I am human.The company also dictates the terms of other non-specifically-profit-making 'human' aspects of my job- those on their time- ie, company breakfasts, fitness classes, etc. Perhaps, you are an individual, small company or a large company who has altruistic, religious or non-profit humanitarian goals instead of other more capitalist 'human' goals such as greed, success or profit. Your point is made, but you are deluding yourself if you think that the 'board' of a typical western large successful company has a higher moral purpose other than meeting or exceeding its shareholder's expectations.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512537]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ergo we surrender.]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:49:25 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Yes.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512048]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[First of all, businesses are based on cumulative personal goals.Then, -from your angle- it is simple: shoul it be able to motivate the persons with a &quot;well being&quot;, which could effect their productivities, at the and, it means the value reached from this business would be higher. Therefore, yes!But this &quot;value&quot; is not money! Money is just a surplus of the business; this is why it called as &quot;profit&quot;.None of us, the &quot;human&quot;s are born to reach basic natural goals that you have mentioned ONLY.&quot;Human&quot; thing that I mentioned is not relevant to this basics. &quot;Human&quot; thing is what makes us &quot;human&quot;...Forget profits, money; just thing: what are you doing here?Why are you here? Why are you reading this messages and replying some?These are a part of &quot;human&quot; thing that I have mentioned.These all are also reaching to the same reality, &quot;you and virtual communication&quot;... Not named as Facebook, but you are already a part of it, in another name; TechRepublic.Are you here for profit? Are you here to feed some profit seekers? Are you here because you are hungry or full?You are here, because you are &quot;human&quot;, you want to reach &amp; share, being reached &amp; being shared, you want to express yourself and get the expressions of others. Because of the &quot;human&quot; things that I have mentioned.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512048]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[orhan.bag@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 31 May 2008 16:13:02 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Yes.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512017]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[First of all, businesses are based on cumulative personal goals.Then, -from your angle- it is simple: shoul it be able to motivate the persons with a &quot;well being&quot;, which could effect their productivities, at the and, it means the value reached from this business would be higher. Therefore, yes!But this &quot;value&quot; is not money! Money is just a surplus of the business; this is why it called as &quot;profit&quot;.None of us, the &quot;human&quot;s are born to reach basic natural goals that you have mentioned ONLY.&quot;Human&quot; thing that I mentioned is not relevant to this basics. &quot;Human&quot; thing is what makes us &quot;human&quot;...Forget profits, money; just thing: what are you doing here?Why are you here? Why are you reading this messages and replying some?These are a part of &quot;human&quot; thing that I have mentioned.These all are also reaching to the same reality, &quot;you and virtual communication&quot;... Not named as Facebook, but you are already a part of it, in another name; TechRepublic.Are you here for profit? Are you here to feed some profit seekers? Are you here because you are hungry or full?You are here, because you are &quot;human&quot;, you want to reach &amp; share, being reached &amp; being shared, you want to express yourself and get the expressions of others. Because of the &quot;human&quot; thing that I have mentioned.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512017]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[orhan.bag@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 31 May 2008 16:10:58 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I do not thing so...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512013]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Business runs on / targets personal goals.Creates, organizes, and manages processes to reach them. Not only for one person, but many.So, you can call the &quot;Business Goals&quot;, as organized sum of the &quot;Personal Goals&quot;; which are inspired from, managed by and targeted on the same &quot;persons&quot; and their goals collectively...I wonder why you are not sharing your ideas or opinions on the &quot;subject&quot;, but focusing on some words and taking it out of subject.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512013]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[orhan.bag@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 31 May 2008 15:39:37 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Right and Wrong]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512012]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Thank you sharing a part of my opinion.On the other hand, about the &quot;electronic 'social' tools fill that basic human need&quot;; I have not mentioned anything like this...They do not &quot;fill&quot; but make it easier to share &quot;human things&quot; for us; especially while we are not able to travel to meet with our global friends in the minutes. Then, they also help us to digitally compose, share and publish the visuals and information of our expressions. They make communication easier and deeper for us. Even we have never seen or meet each other...At last, working and business? I have not mentioned NGOs or charity things.Business is not &quot;making money&quot;, but creating, developing and managing processes in order to reach a &quot;value&quot;, -as I have mentioned- to enrich and keep going our 'life', which also creates &quot;working&quot; opportunities for all of us...This &quot;Value&quot; thing may have various meanings for each person, according to their angels.It looks, your one is more focused on &quot;money for living&quot; concerns. Since the subject of this discussion has not been about it, our words are totally focused on the subject, which is totally out of your concerns!By the way, &quot;Keep going&quot; things include your &quot;simply to acquire food and shelter&quot; concern.&quot;Human&quot; thing is not a figure just and &quot;simply&quot; aims &quot;to acquire food and shelter&quot;... This is a basic natural motive, which we share with all other living creatures. Of course it is a part of &quot;living&quot; but, these are not related to the &quot;human&quot; thing that I have mentioned or not a part of the subject of this discussion.We are talking about digital / virtual social networks, causes, expectations and effects, etc. of them. My words are on this subject...I wonder how you came to this point.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2512012]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[orhan.bag@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 31 May 2008 15:26:00 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Palmetto's point on hourly employees]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2503859]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[carries a lot of weight with me.  It makes a lot of sense because it's correct... as far as it goes.  One point to counter your argument, though, is this:  most companies who would consider purchasing such a tool also have a lot of their staff on salary, not hourly, and further much of their staff would be probably be connected via an Intranet.  Finally, most companies wanting to purchase such a tool would probably be spread out all over their country, if not globally, and thus would require 1) an Intranet, 2) VPN, SSL, or some other secure connection, and 3) some way of keeping contact with spread-out teams beyond email.  Thus this sort of tool is neither meant for, nor would be marketed to, every company, just those who need it.  And there are a great deal of companies either in this position already or moving in that direction.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2503859]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[DFO_REXX]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 22 May 2008 08:19:50 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I finally realized why I'm uneasy with this idea.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2503270]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[It assumes all employees have equal access to a workplace computer.  If this is a &quot;social&quot; tool, shouldn't all employees have a way to use it?In many places , not everyone has access to a computer.  In others (including the manufacturing plant where I work), there may be access to the company intranet but no individual account or login for each users.  Most of our workforce shares a common domain login with no e-mail.Hourly employees often have to account for their time against a work order, project, account, or other category used to track direct labor time.  Since they're often evaluated on how they use their time (production quotas, etc.), they're not going to be encouraged to use such a system.  I have doubts many Training department would consider use of such a system as a job-essential skill worthy of the training time.  Also, we restrict VPN access to those users who have a business need for it, and our intranet is not accessible from outside the company without a VPN account.Sidebar - I'm still hoping someone will suggest a useful social site for me to experiment with.  I freely admit all my comments on the subject of social sites are rooted in a total lack of experience.  Hopefully someone will recommend a site I can join for the purpose of seeing what the fuss is all about, a site for professional adults not centered on &quot;Stupid Human Tricks&quot; or the Jonas Brothers.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2503270]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[CharlieSpencer_Palmetto]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 21 May 2008 17:15:32 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Social Networking tool Beehive]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2503175]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Hi, I am a new IBM employee who has a profile on Beehive, the IBM tool Toni is talking about.  Let me say first that these opinions are mine alone, and do not represent the opinions of IBM, its management, or any of its subsidiaries. I like Beehive because it enables me to connect with other IBM employees through a non-threatening way, rather than browse through the mail directory and &quot;cold-call&quot; other employees.  By posting on Beehive people invite others to contact them, whether for help with their career, a technical problem, or just to chat.  Therefore it is more useful to me than anything else in IBM as I try to figure my way through the company. I would like to make a comment about the &quot;Why do we need webcams so I can't roll my eyes during a meeting?&quot; comment.  Reading body language is a primary way humans communicate.  As most of you have experienced with email, emotional content gets lost in the merely written word (except for you poets).  With body language, we read the entire message and not just the words, so we can know if the statement is serious or not, insult or compliment, or just a joke.   That is the value of seeing each other over video.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2503175]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[DFO_REXX]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 21 May 2008 13:49:12 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[yaeh, I have been thinkin bout the]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2502991]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Pimp Kit myself ]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2502991]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[The Scummy One]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 21 May 2008 10:21:38 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[HAHAHAHA...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2502539]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Classic!  I'm going to mutilate my thurst ]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2502539]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[jmgarvin]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 20 May 2008 21:58:45 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Personal goals vs. Business goals]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501571]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[They are not the same thing.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501571]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[L-Mo]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 19 May 2008 16:52:32 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[additional info - on social networks in the workplace]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501346]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[(edited for horible spelling.)I was going to mention but was kinda running out of time, that you?d be able to find existing tools to do just about every single thing that a social network can do.I think what makes it a social network, is the combination of such tools in one (hopefully) easy to navigate, online tool.though networking isn't a high priority on your list of important things to do with people at work, (taking that from your other response in this thread,) it is important to many people, and the um... lets call them 'business collaboration tools' in stead of 'social networks' to alleviate 'social' from the equation, do help with that.The tool for developing standard practices would be fun to work on really, but - alas, I have to sell asphalt maintenance products how for a couple of years... I'm building up the family business, and a nest egg to do something back in the tech field in a few years again.  So I'm going to pass (for now,) on elaborating much on that.  However, in your case, if you ARE indeed interested, I'd suggest thinking of how it would work with the tools that you already have. (forums and E-mails) a category to submit ideas, a category for existing standards and practices, a system of identifying said practices, a category for the deciding managers to revise suggested improvements and an SLA on approvals or denials of such... Once you have it in the standard tools, it's easy to move to a 'business collaboration tool' - and once again we go back to the fact that there it's not that social networks have 'original tools' it's that the tools are combined, and that accessible to lots of people via the 'business collaboration tools'.As for the Virtual life, TR is a great start, and more of a virtual life, than I think your giving it credit for.  For example, just from our little bit of conversation, I can tell that your the kind of person that on many things you and I would share common interests on.  I came off a tad aggressive, but that is the nature of anoniminity on human nature in the internet world. I know that you hate to 'make up' information but I'm going to admit to you that on most of the sites that I sign up on, I have an email address of junk@level20.com (which is real, but I only check it to dig the pass word out of an e-mail or click their mandatory 'click this link to complete the sign up' process. after that, any e-mails I get from the site, can join all the rest of the spam in there and swim around happily.)My phone # if it's required, (and I hate it when they do that...) is 111.111.1111 (not really mine.)  And I even have a fake address in Washington for times that an actual address is required.I don't have that info. To deceive 'people' once I get on the site, I post my home page of http://www.wadehone.com freely and that has more of my personal information than you can shake a stick at on it.  but for the info hungry web sites, that most often sell that info off to the highest bidder... they get the fake stuff, and I don't feel one whit bad about doing it either.I feel that creating and using an alias really is worth the benefits of participating on the social network scene.But, unfortunately I WILL have to agree with you... MySpace and Facebook more than likely will NOT win you over... but by looking at them, with the IT knowledge that you DO have, I bet it wouldn't take you more than 15 minutes to come up with something that WOULD work for your company.And with that, I bid you farewell.Wade Hone -out.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501346]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[wadehone@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 19 May 2008 12:11:17 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Again, thanks.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501276]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[&quot;I was ... making contacts - read networking just like people do in real life on a golf course,...&quot;This may be part of why I'm not seeing the value of this.  I've never been able to 'network'.  I can be friendly and hold up my end of a conversation, but I don't know how to establish business relations.  I'm also very reluctant to contact someone for assistance based on a single meeting in a casual environment.  That's probably because I hate being contacted by someone I met only once in a casual environment.  I don't mind doing favors for long-time friends, but I feel like I'm being used when contacted by someone I barely know.  Hence, I hate to contact others I barely know and making them feel like I do when called under those circumstances.  (Maybe this is why I'm in IT and didn't major in sociology.)I tried to look at 3dbuzz, but it requires an update to my Flash player.  That requires closing Firefox, and I didn't want to lose this reply.I'm not interested in keeping score or bad-mouthing the technology.  I honestly have no idea what benefits this tech would have in a business environment.  I can see it for HR, Sales, or others where there's a traditional emphasis on forming personal relations or seeking out new contacts.  As I noted in my post above, I've been reluctant to test any of the better-known 'social' sites because I don't want to disclose any personal information.  Maybe my lack of social skills is keeping from both being interested in such participation and from seeing practical business applications.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501276]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[CharlieSpencer_Palmetto]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 19 May 2008 11:37:27 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[First, thanks for the response.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501270]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Biographies are an excellent point, but there are other tools besides &quot;social&quot; ones that will manage this.  Some help desk applications will track and search technician skills.Maybe I'm not seeing your point about the retail team.  What you describe doesn't sound any different from the capabilities of any group calendar package, including Notes or Exchange / Outlook.I do wish you'd provided more information on your original scenario of developing standard practices.  I'm clueless as to how that would work.Maybe it's the word 'social' that's throwing me off.  It looks like you're describing the capabilities of many intranet portals and collaboration tools (MS Sharepoint leaps to mind).  &quot;...it helps in the virtual lives that we are all developing as well.&quot;TR is as close as I come to a &quot;virtual life&quot;, and right now as close as I want to get to having one.&quot;the best way to see how Sites like Facebook, can unite employees, is to just sign up on Facebook...&quot;I confess I am extremely reluctant to do this.  I'm rather protective of my personal information.  This feeling isn't unique to personal sites; I've closed many a web page because it prompted me for information I didn't want to share.  At the same time, I don't want to lie just to create an account; something about doing that bothers me on a gut level.  I'm also not sure what site to join (if any).  I get the impression Facebook and Myspace will not provide content I'm interested in.  From what little I've read, the first is full of kids less than half my age, the other oriented around music I have no interest in hearing.  I'm open to suggestions.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501270]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[CharlieSpencer_Palmetto]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 19 May 2008 11:14:08 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[the 'same crap'...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501268]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[um... the web 10 years ago?  were you even 'connected'?this 'same crap' IS what brought you things like 'TechRepublic' and other things that you now take for granted...Oh how quickly we forget.Wade -out.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501268]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[wadehone@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 19 May 2008 10:56:34 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[the next flashy web x.0]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501267]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I just wanted to note that it is the spending of the beaucoup bucks for the development that actualy provides the income for the development of the 'next flashy Wev x.o thing TO come along. With out that element, (the element of companies spending money trying to emplement new tech,) new product development would slow to a crawl.Wade -out.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501267]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[wadehone@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 19 May 2008 10:53:47 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[How Social Networks like Facebook Can unite employees.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501216]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[This topic of ?the benefits or lack thereof, of online social networks in the workplace,? is similar to the one that we (you and I palmetto,) are discussing elsewhere, but I'd like to get in on this one too...I'm starting to understand that you, (and I'm guessing Toni falls into this category as well,) honestly don't see any specific advantages to social sites &quot;like Facebook&quot; in the work place.It's just hard to fathom is all... but lets take that at face value, and imagine ourselves in an IT department of a major corporation... I'm going to choose a Wireless Telephone Corp. for the hypothetical, because it's not much of a stretch for me... ( I managed the So Cal. IT Sustainment Dept. for AT&amp;T Wireless from 2000-2004 until their purchase by Cingular,) ok, so, in that situation, lets say you have 12 Managers, spread out across the nation, each manager, manages 8 to 15 technicians that maintains the desktop infrastructure for the company.  One of the goals of upper management is to implement nation wide policy and have it implemented the same in each area across the country.  This may sound like a given, but if it does, that would reflect a lack of knowledge of how much technicians like to take proposals from management and um... make them better, shall we say.That said, upper management isn't absolutely stupid, so they would like to be using the best technique available, the only thing is they don't want each department picking and choosing which of the various methods and policies they will follow.  does the scenario make sense? ok, we have e-mail as a tool, we have forums and message boards, (which I can see you have a hard time associating with as part of a social site, but let me  assure you the forums and message boards are a large part of each social network,) but here is where a social site really can help.Lets take Face Book - personally I'd tweak quite a bit, before using it as a corporate tool, but lets just take it and imagine that there's no budget to create a proprietary social network site for our company.First - there is a biography part, I'd have each person have all their vital training info. and expertise?s put in their Bios. in a method that it could be easily searched.... problems with printers, bobby over in New Jersey has just completed an HP training course and will probably have some good insights to offer - Jeff in LA can see that from on bobby's profile page (or do a search / perhaps have a group that?s set up for printer experts where bobby is a member / but anyway, Jeff does a search for and finding that info out about bobby, - Jeff then posts a query on bobby's page ? bobby is notified on his cell phone that he has a message, and can reply thus saving Jeff allot of time.)ok, lets say I'm the national manager, of the Retail team, all of my techs use their cell phones or the web as they are leaving a retail kiosk with info on when they will be at the next location - a few words, and presto, if I have an issue come up, I can instantly see on my tech's page, where they are and what they are working on thus making it easier to decide which tech to divert to the other location.This could easily work for the sales dept. or product placement dept. or many other departments.That's two tools, and I haven?t even started on how it can solve the initial scenario of having a central location to discuss policy, and establishing the 'best practice' in an insanely more effective method than existed back in 2004 when I left AT&amp;T Wireless.  In today's world of High Tech, I'd have the social site be a central hub of passing the policy info back and forth, a central information processing point where everyone could go to - submit their ideas for how it (and by it, I mean a policy or technique used in our dept.) might be done better, but yet still have access to the current best practice that is being used across the nation. There would be info. On how to submit the idea, and an easy to use process for the managers to make the call on what the current ?best practice? would be, thus allowing for a recommendation to be made to upper management, approval, and deployment of the best practice so much more efficient.  In 2004, this process would take 3 weeks to infinity ? with a social networking site, properly executed, the process could conceivably be completed in a day ? a HUGE benefit when deploying a virus solution during a virus attack and you want every one across the nation to be following the same exact process on all the desktops.The thing is, there are so many other benefits, but I have killed a good 30 mins of my day responding to the post - time I don't really have. We will call it a lunch break.There IS some benefit to sharing a bit of personal information about life on a social network too - we do it at the water cooler, and that is nice for the team that is all at the same local office, but in this instance, we have a national team, the more that these techs get to know each other, the better that they will work together is the hope.  It works in Real life, and from what I have seen so far, it helps in the virtual lives that we are all developing as well.  For this hypothetical, I could easily see some one posting that they have an interest in Halo, or Counter Strike on their Bio page.. another tech, 5 states away, sees that info, they get on the same server, play as a team, frag some bad guys together, chat about work and Whamo! I a connection and friendship has been established that will be a benefit to the company for years to come, and perhaps a relationship that will be of benefit to the two employees for life.  All because of a work based and encourage social  networking site like face book.yes, even you, your here aren?t you?  on TechRepublic?s Social Network... talking with peers and industry experts about ideas, learning, sharing, teaching... that's what it is all about.I see so many values to exploring the technology, it's frustrating seeing some one that is IN the industry writing for an online periodical called 'Tech-fill-in-the-blank-becuase-anything-following-the-word-tech-makes-one-think-the-site-at-least-promotes-technology,' state clearly that they can't see any uses for social networking sites in the workplace.It boggles the mind.I would expect to read this kind of article in print, on old fashioned news paper. The kind that has been around for hundreds of years.. that way I can scan the article, smile knowingly at this ?ancient worker bee? that just 'doesn't get it' and move on.When I see some one that is supposedly a part of the 'TechRepublic' with such an archaic attitude, it incenses the mind, actual anger bubbles up as an emotion - &quot;how dare someone within the industry not have the foresight or imagination to see the advances that social networking sites are bringing and will continue to bring to the world!&quot; I think to myself (then post those thoughts on this blog...)I say it ?boggles the mind?, but that?s not entirely true, I do see how it?s possible - I see it in Toni's original article, and in your post as well. She states at the start that she has 'avoided' them, and similar to Toni?s comment you your self,) state that you have no experience with social sites at all.So, honestly, the best way to see how Sites like Facebook, can unite employees, is to just sign up on Facebook, look at the tools that are available there, and then put yourself in the role of a consultant trying to help a corporation find uses for their social network tool that they spent millions implementing.I think that even the most backwards technophobes could come up with an idea or two on how to help the company 'unite their employees via social networking sites.'Thank you,Wade Hone.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501216]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[wadehone@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 19 May 2008 10:13:51 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[ok... if we must ...I'll try to sumon up some dignity here...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501181]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[How dare you try to lift this post above my petty name calling and low brow antics!  ;-POk, ok, you win, if you insist, I will attempt to climb up to your level and treat this subject with some respect and dignity. heh. (sarcasm aside, kudos to you for keeping it professional and the opposite to me for starting the thread with such a flammable title anyway - your right, I should have been more on topic if I disagreed instead of flaming Toni's professional role - can I take one more little jab though then call it quits on that topic? read the intro sentence... she's been avoiding the new tech of the social websites... happy to trudge along with blogs being her only inlet to the 'high tech world of the tubes of those darned intranets...' --- Bah! there I go again... degenerating the discussion into petty and childish insults... ok ok ok.here:http://www.virtualworldsmanagement.com/research/index.html that's a link to a page that will have some business reasons for corporations to look into this virtual world thingy that's hanging on the horizon.Second life has some reasons as to why virtual worlds are currently valuable to employers and corporations - but... honestly most of there info is more about the potential than a real benefit.As far as a hard faced 'real' benefit - I think that it is yet to be developed.  But, I think that it's going to be somewhat of a cross between what linden labs (second life,) and www.3dbuzz.com has done.I attended a 'virtual' classroom in second life, where I watched a Harvard law professors class broadcast into a replica of a Harvard law school setting.The experience was very moving... I a 'not so wealthy' man in Idaho was receiving the same lecture that 'uber wealthy/smart' kids were getting at an Ivy League school in Boston.  I could have just watched the video on you-tube sure, but they were using the virtual environment to tie together many aspects of the class so that the experience became more robust. (Bulletin boards in the virtual worlds that pointed to class forums - and web pages that had additional information etc.  Also, there was the 'interaction' between other students in the area - I was rubbing shoulders with people (making contacts - read networking just like people do in real life on a golf course,) with ivy league kids... now I didn't personally forge any life long friendships and spring board the next revolutionary web 3.0 idea or anything, but - it was VERY easy to see how that kind of thing really could happen.Ok, now, juxtapose that over the www.3dbuzz.com website, and education system that they offer.  Instructional videos that can take you from a neophyte 'kid with a dream' to some one that can actually put together 3d graphics presentations and contribute to popular applications via computer generated content.The community that develops around the 'classroom' atmosphere is phenomenal - now this 'example' has several holes in it, largely that it's not really a full blown 'virtual world' or anything yet.  But, it's just so easy to see where that may actually be the case for the 3dbuzz.com site, or sites like it in the future.I can envision a community like 3dbuzz, that provided the same level of instruction for K-12 education - I mean wouldn't that be cool if that anyone with a connection to the internet could have access to a K-12 public school education without even having to get on the buss and go to school to get it. (sure that could sound horrible to some, but there are many cases where that would be absolutely wonderful - shut ins, developmentally challenged, lets say an adult that couldn't yet read perhaps (there are some out there,) Anyway, I just see such a wonderful exiting future for all of this 'virtual community' out there, that I get a bit frustrated by people that turn their noses up at it and 'poo pah' any possibility of there being a success in that field.Then to have the 'poo pah' person turn out to be someone that 6 years ago wouldn't have even been able to call themselves a 'Blog Manager' or what ever that fancy schmancy title was that Toni has attached to her name plate is, with out the advancement of a technology so similar to the tech that she's 'poo pah'ing' that it's hard to separate the parents of the two techs from each other... well it's just frustrating is all.Anyway, if we wana get the debate score card out and mark points down, I'll just go ahead and concede the battle to you, but I do hope at least that you can understand a bit where my initial vitriol came from.Thank you,Wade Hone -out.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2501181]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[wadehone@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 19 May 2008 09:09:26 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[..... Hmmmmmm]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2500738]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Xenotron,  the haulage companies who refused to move from horse drawn to the new fangled, dirty, smelly automotive vehicles don't count then ....... ?? There are thousands of examples of companies not moving with the times and adopting new technology going to the wall or being absorbed by their opposition.  The key is in adopting the RELEVANT new technology and not every toy the whizz (??) kids come up with.  Anyone remember the Sinclair C5 ......]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-263383-2500738]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chas M]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sun, 18 May 2008 23:58:55 -0700</pubDate>
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