Computer mediated social software adoption in business organizations

Computer Mediated Business Communications

Social Software is still perceived as to risky to use for core business activities: discuss.

Social interaction is considered to be an experimental way for people to interconnect. However, the use of technology has meant that the way many individuals are interacting with one another has been consistently changing. This has caused many businesses to face number of different issues, as they are caught at the crossroads of wanting to embrace these changes. Yet, they are reluctant because they feel that these kinds of shifts may only be temporary trends.

A good example of this can be seen with many consumers believing that Beta Max was the future of video cassette recording during the late 1970s. However, technology improved to the point that many consumers quickly shifted and began using VCRs. For those companies that had heavily invested in Beta Max and its success on the market, this meant that their businesses were devastated. As, the sudden shifts in: technology and demand from consumers caused overnight changes in tastes. (Ramos, 1979, pp. 243 -- 263) This is important, because it is illustrating why so many businesses are reluctant to embrace social software. Where, they want to make certain that these kinds of changes are long-term, versus temporary in nature. Once they see that these kinds of shifts are real, is when they will begin to focus more on utilizing social software as a part of their core business activities.

Trust

One of the biggest challenges facing any kind of online business is building trust in their organization. As a result, there are several different kinds of trust the most notable include: the trust inside the virtual community and among all the general public. The building of trust inside a virtual community is when organizations are able to create a loyal following among their members. This is based upon the unique product and experience that they are providing to them. Once this occurs, the members of the community will have a sense of trust in these kinds of sites. The reason why is because, they are sharing similar interests and many of the members have favorable views of these businesses. This is important, because it is illustrating how these kinds of sites were able to create tremendous amounts of trust by constructing a virtual community of members that shared similar interests. (Kennedy, 2009, pp. 225 -- 238)

The way that this would build trust among the general public, is through a viral effect that was created. In this case, the popularity of the site from its core members will help to create a buzz about the organization itself. This will attract new visitors, who will become members, based on the common interests that they share with the community. Once this begins to occur, it means that the overall levels of trust are shifting. Where, more people are willing to post larger amounts of personal information online. This is significant, because once the image of the brand has been given a certain amount of trust. It will be built upon this, based on the reviews that members are giving to the general public (who will hear about the site from various sources). This increases the amount of trust that many people are having in these various types of social software. (Kennedy, 2009, pp. 225 -- 238)

Trust is a major factor that will affect the popularity of any kind of business. What makes social networking so popular is that it goes beyond the issues of trust. As, businesses are discovering that this is becoming an effective way for people to be able to: communicate and interact with each other. Once this takes place, it means that many of these kinds of organizations will have people posting very personal information about themselves. (Kennedy, 2009, pp. 225 -- 238)

Rational for the Shift

The reason why these kinds of changes are occurring is because many people have become busier. This means that building any kind of trust about: the products and services that a business has to offer can be more challenging. Evidence of this can be seen with observations from Kerno (2008) he wrote, "Organizations today must contend with increasing complexity resulting from the proliferation of stakeholder in the environment and the level of complex knowledge necessary to understand the environment, and intensifying competition as globalization, and it accompanying forces alter the economic, political and social landscape. Furthermore Kerno (2008) adds, "Organizations are also increasingly expected to use improved performance as a means of satisfying the financial market demands. The confluence of these forces is creating an acceleration in business activity." (Kerno, 2008, pp. 69 -- 78) These different elements are significant because, they are showing how a shift has occurred in way everyone is living their daily lives.

As a result, businesses have been slowly embracing some of these changes that are taking place. This is because they want to find another way to be able to build trust among consumers. One way that they are able to do this is through the use of social software. In this aspect, the perceptions about utilizing these different tools have been changing. This is due to the fact that it is more difficult for various organizations to be able to effectively reach out to different consumers. Once this occurs, it means that they more are willing to use social software as a way to reach out to customers. Over the course of time, this will cause the perceptions about the risks of these kinds of tools to diminish. At which point, this will be utilized as an increasingly important part of the core business strategy. (Kerno, 2008, pp. 69 -- 78)

The Shift in Perceptions

The effective use of various social software solutions has meant that a number of organizations are beginning to increase their utilization of these tools. In this case, they are beginning to see how they can be more effective at reaching out to customers and employees. As far as customers are concerned, this has been helping businesses to improve their promotion of various products and services. In comparison with some of the traditional forms of advertising (such as: direct mail or newspapers), the underlying results are far more effective. At the same time, they are more valuable in comparison with other advertising mediums.

When you put these different elements together, they are illustrating how social software can provide better results than some of the tools that were used in the past. This means that executives are beginning to see how this can help to promote their products to customers (without costing a small fortune). While at the same time, fact that this can be more effective online, means that a shift is taking place in how these tools are being utilized (as part of a number of different business models). Over the course of time, a change is occurring in the mindset of executives. In this aspect, one could argue that it is because social software is no longer seen as risky. Instead, it is seen as an essential tool that can help a variety of organizations to be able to increase their revenues and productivity. (Singh, 2009, pp. 1 -- 10)

At the same time, the use of social software has meant that many corporations have been reaching out to employees. This is because they are seeing how this can help to: improve collaboration and communication. One of the biggest problems that a number of different organizations around the world have faced; is that coordinating their various departments can be challenging. The reason why, is due to the fact that globalization has meant that a number of companies must establish numerous offices around the world. In the past this was problematic, because many organizations had trouble communicating with other offices around the globe from: issues such as differences in the time zones. This made it more challenging to communicate and monitor the activities in other regions of the world. When you are using social software these issues are addressed. This is because, these tools can be used to create social networking pages, where everyone could communicate and share their ideas with each other. Over the course of time, this will improve collaboration on a host of projects and communication. These elements will translate into higher revenues, as corporations are more able to respond to changes in the market. Once this occurs, it means that they can be able to maintain their dominance in these areas (in spite of the changes that could be taking place). In a world that is being impacted by globalization, this will cause a shift in competitors and the kinds of products that are in demand. In this aspect, one could argue that the changes in the views surrounding the underlying risks of social software have evolved. Once this occurred, it meant that it was only a matter of time until you will saw these different tools utilized as part of the core business model for a host of entities. (Rutledge, 2008, pp. 107 -- 130)

As a result, a shift is taking place in the underlying amounts of risk associated with social software. The reason why, is because it is providing a number of significant benefits that other traditional forms of media are unable to deliver to include: it can reach out to customers / employees / suppliers, increase productivity and help to raise revenues. When you put these different elements together, they are illustrating how these positive benefits are indicating that a change is taking place in perceptions. Once this occurs, it means that it is only a matter of time until most executives will no longer see the use of social software as risky. Instead, they will see it as another tool that they can use to: reach out to their customers and employees. Over the course of time, this means that the risks for these businesses will decline.