There is great value in the immediate, real-time connections made within the various consumer-based social platforms. Within the enterprise, however, the greater value is realized over time.
Think about it. You may not benefit from every social interaction, but by participating in the process (whether blogging, adding edits to a wiki, adding comments to a co-workers post, "liking" something, or even giving a star rating) you are adding value that will help others. Just because it doesn't lead to immediate professional value for the individual (a rather selfish, even narcissistic view of social networking), doesn't mean it isn't worth pursuing. Through your activity, you are extending the metadata of the artifacts. You are building a web of connections, helping those on the sidelines to see more depth in the content, to identify connections, to dig deeper than titles and descriptions.
What is important to social platforms is that you participate in the process. There is no algorithmic solution for the way the human brain works to identify connections. We make recommendations based on experiences, provide feedback based on ideas that may be ours or may come from people who influence us, and connect with others in ways that sometimes make no sense (we went to kindergarten together, we both love the 80's band Kajagoogoo, we both collect urinal cakes shaped in the image of Kim Jong Il).
My point here: you never know when your experience may benefit others, or -- more importantly -- provide connections and context between otherwise unconnected and seemingly disconnected content. That's the value of social in the enterprise. It is another layer of search. It is a critical aspect of knowledge management. It is at the heart of any collaboration platform.
#changemanagement #socialcomputing #enterpriseapplications #socialmedia #buckleyplanet #disruptors