I just had a question from a student who is interested in researching and finding articles on the impact of social networking sites on organizations (any orgs - companies, non-profits, govt.). Specifically, how do the SN sites change the behavior of the orgs.
I directed him to use some of our general dbs (academic search premier, proquest), business dbs (factiva, bu source premier), and technolocy related (lib and info sci dbs). We did find a few articles, but didn't come up with much on the fly. Tried keywords like social networking and organizations and impact, also used some of the subject terms the dbs suggested.
Does anyone have any suggestions for search strategies or resources?
Also note what he is NOT interested in - specific overviews of social networking sites (facebook, myspace, linkedin, etc) and general overviews or analyses that discuss what social networking is.
FYI - I took the student's email address, so feel free to post comments here and I'll direct him to this post. Thanks - Frank
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Today, I just started reading a new book by Clay Shirky (Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations) that is definitely a source the student will want to consult.
- copy available at Brooklyn College
- WorldCat record
- author's blog for the book
Jon Udell did an interview with Valdis Krebs recently. I hadn't heard of Krebs, but he seems like a go-to person on this topic also. A search for books and articles by Krebs might be useful.
Also, did you try the FAITS database or Gartner (via the CUNY Portal)?
The Conference Board is another place to look. They are going to be publishing a series of reports on "virtual worlds" (Use this term to search)in 2008. Two reports are already available: one looks at social networks for corporate communications; the other at marketing to customers through social networks.
As Peggy Teich and I were talking about this question this AM, she recalled the way that Lotus Notes was used to form social networks within Citibank when she worked there. So a search for Lotus Notes in business databases and communications databases might yield some interesting sources.
Other possible sites are SSRN and Forrester.com, which offers some research reports for free. There hae been a number of articles in news and magazines about the use of social networking sites for recruitment efforts if that is of interest to the student
Rita
Perhaps the student can search for articles focusing on different aspects/behaviors (such as employee productivity, participation/input, motivation, innovation, communication, etc.).
The student may also want to try psychology and sociology databases which cover organizational behavior and social networking.
Also, try some of the communication databases covering new media, network ethnography, and organizations. Online social networking is often discussed in new media literature. Network ethnography looks at social constructions in organizations using new technologies.
Suggested Journal: New Media & Society (in SAGE: Communication database).
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