Companies expanding into the era of Enterprise 2.0 need to define basic goals and parameters for the use of these tools, but they also need to let the application take on a life of its own.  There are many known benefits for businesses establishing themselves in online social environments which includes enhancing productivity and efficiency, and also a growth in knowledge, reputation and staff engagement.  There have been many success stories that highlight the efficiency of Web 2.0 tools can have on business processes.  In 2009, IBM spent over $700k to excessively tag all their content across the Enterprise as an alternative to traditional searching.  It was proven successful when the average employee saved 12 seconds on finding content resulting in unexpected savings of at least $4.5 million per year.

As more and more businesses engage in online social environments it comes with the territory that the majority of the control is shifted to the audience.  The attraction of social media networks for users is that anyone anywhere can say anything, which is exactly the exact issue that some executives worry about.  This is especially a concern when organizations interact with the public, but organisations that deal with the public, with or without the aid of social media tools never really have control over what people hear or say about the business. So in fact, by utilising Web 2.0 tools, businesses are not giving up control, simply the illusion of control.

Learn from your audience and embrace the unexpected.

Most executives also worry about the possibility of a scandal breaking out on their business’ page for the public to read.  What if someone was to post comments that were abusive, obscene or offensive? A business cannot control what people post, but they can let people control themselves as users will create the rules within the network.  Many networks including Facebook, Myspace and Youtube have detailed privacy options to help prevent such behaviour occuring on a page.  However by limiting users to features/tools on a business’ profile, the level of engagement will not be as high as it would have been without such limitations.  Even the feature of comment moderation on WordPress or Tumblr is frustrating for users as they believe it shows a lack of trust and denying freedom of speech.

NASA in its Own Stratosphere

In the recent L2 Digital IQ Index, NASA placed first out of 100 public sector organisations ranked on the effectiveness of their websites, digital outreach and social media use.  NASA was the clear leader by 26 points, which has set the record since the study begun.  NASA currently have strong online presences across 9 different networks; Twitter, Facebook, Ustream, Foursquare, Myspace, Youtube, Flickr, Gowalla and Slideshare.  To accommodate specific user interests, NASA has created 47 different Twitter accounts and 39 Facebook pages/profiles.

NASA’s goal is to communicate the important work of thousands in our nation’s space and aeronautics missions as broadly as possible, and we employ numerous tools to do that.

David Weaver, associate administrator for Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Right now, NASA has more than a 1.3 million followers on Twitter, received more than 500,000 likes on Facebook and had the first person in space check in via Foursquare.  NASA is a great example of how Enterprise 2.0 has helped them educate and share knowledge with space-lovers all over the world.  Their online social presence is exponentially growing and will continue to grow, especially when they decide to create new profiles on other networks.