Social network

When Social Networks Cross Boundaries: A Case Study of Workplace Use of Facebook and LinkedIn
Meredith M. Skeels
Biomedical & Health Informatics, University of Washington Seattle, WA, USA

Jonathan Grudin
Microsoft Research Redmond, WA, USA

[e-mail] ABSTRACT
The use of social networking software by professionals is increasing dramatically. How it is used, whether it enhances or reduces productivity, and how enterprise-friendly design and use might evolve are open questions. We examine attitudes and behaviors in a large, technologically-savvy organization through a broad survey and thirty focused interviews. We find extensive social and work uses, with complex patterns that differ with software system and networker age. Tensions arise when use spans social groups and the organization’s firewall. Although use is predominantly to support weak ties whose contribution to productivity can be difficult to prove, we anticipate rapid uptake of social networking technology by organizations.

[e-mail] to corporate use. One-third of the employees in the enterprise we studied were in the Facebook company network. We found an equal number of employees with LinkedIn accounts. Professionaloriented LinkedIn had quadrupled in size to over 25 million members in one year [12]. What if anything are all these professional users doing with social networking software? Enterprise adoption of social networking software is far easier, and preventing it more difficult, than was true for earlier technologies. This raises questions. Do these sites enhance productivity? Can utility for enterprises be increased? What new issues will arise for these new user populations? In early 2008, we conducted this research in Microsoft, then an organization of 88,000. Although not a typical enterprise, it is typical of the early adopters of email and IM that foreshadowed subsequent wider use. We briefly review social networking software history and research, and then