"New Study Finds Grassroots Enterprise Social Media Often Works Best"

Hey, this one's big, just caught up with it, really recommended.

New Study Finds Grassroots Enterprise Social Media Often Works Best

1. Underground efforts yield big results - Companies are turning a blind eye to underground social software efforts until they prove their worth, after which they integrate them more thoroughly.
2. Front line workers are driving the vision - Many senior managers still consider social tools something their teenagers use. Young workers, who do not need to be taught or convinced to use these tools, expect them in the workplace.
3. The business need is the big driver - Social software is not about the tools, it is about what the tools enable the users to do and about the business problems the tools address.
4. Communities are self-policing - When left to their own devices, communities within enterprise intranets police themselves. Workers tend to retain their professional identities, leaving little need for the organization to institute controls.
5. Organizations must cede power - As companies have been learning from using Web 2.0 technologies to communicate with their customers, they can no longer fully control their message. This is true, too, when Web 2.0 tools are used in internal communications.