Question: The "Unit Four Closing Case Two" entitled Social Networking, discuss how social media sites can be used by a virtual enterprise to enable C-Commerce processes to "hear" the Voice of the Customer. Be sure to incorporate your personal experience and any learning regarding the Customer Experience Management lifecycle.

Social Networking:

Not long ago it seemed that four companies would forecer dominate the web in trafic and ad dollars. Each of the big four, google, yahoo, microsofts, and time warners aol atracte moe than 100 million unique visitros a month. Collectively the group accounts for roughly 90 percent of groass ad dollars online. But now those companies are facing a threat to their dominance. Todays massice social networking systems are rapidly becoming webs within the web. One stop shops for a wide range of services from content to communications to commerce that were once the unique province of teh Big Four.

Facebook, Myspace, Linkdin and other social netwroking sites have been the rage of the tech industry lately. Following investments by Microsofts, News Corp. and Goldman Sachs, the companies are vlaued in the billions of dollara and are consdiered blueprints for how to build a website. Facebook has become the webs largest social network as measured by active users which offers bread and butter portal services like email and instant messaging as well as photo posting and video sharing. In addition Facebook has partnered with Amazon.com to produce a shopping application that lets users buy items at Amazon without leaving facebooks site while using opt in new feeds that broadcsat activities on Amazon such as a chat feature that automatically populates itself with a users Facebook friends that may render older instant messaging srvices, such as AOLS AIM defunct.

Jumping on wireless apps mega trend Facebook uses mobile alerts to deliver mobile services for traditional styled cell phones and more intelligent smartphones. Applications for popular devices, scuh as the iPhone or BlackBerry, deliver even richer social experiences. Vieo has taken off, too with 45 million clips uploaded on Facebook including higher resolution video formats allowing Facebook users to send video messages from the site and from mobile devices.

Launches in 2003 Myspace became on of the most visited websites in the world within a few years. With almost a billion visits per month, myspace isconsidered the most popular social netwrok by traffic volume. The site was orgiginally started by musicians as a tool to help users discover new music and engage with bands. Today, myspace members leverage the service to discover people with similar tastes or experiences. Utilizing a system of adding friends to your netwrok, the ability to customize your profile, write blog entries, play favorite mp3 tracks, join groups and enter sicussions. Myspace allows user to interact in a way unparalledled befor eit emergence. However the most compelling reason to join myspace is for fun. There are many avenues toward entertainment on the social network including browsing through musician profiles and exploring area dedicated to television shows or movies. But myspace isnt just for fun as many busnesses maintain myspace profiles in order to use the socail media site as form of amrketing. Fo rmusicians, actors, authors, entrepreneurs, and others that maintain a public image, a mspace profile can be very important connection to fans.

Subce ut scired a 900 million three year deal with Google in 2006 mysapce has been profitable. And it has given news corp a nice turn on its 650 mllion acquitisition in 2005. MySpace has recently formed partnerships with major record labels Sony BMG Music, Warner Music Group, and Vivendi's UNiversal Music Group to offer its 117 million members tickets ring tones and artist merchandise. Driving a good chunk of sales is a project launced last summer called Hyper Targeting a software that mines the prfiles of Myspace users to deliver ads tailored to their interests. Hundreds of advertisers are part of the program, including Toyota and Taco Bell. Another income source is the sale of mobile ring tones and ads.

When it comes to enterprise collaboration and social software, Linkedin riles the roost. Linkedin is more effective at meeting the requirements of social computing the enterprise environment demands. With more than 30 million users representing 150 industries around the wrold, Linkedin is a fast growing professional netwroking site that allows members to create buisness contacts, search for jons, and find poetntial clients. Individuals have the ability to create their own professional profile that can be viewed by others in their netwrok, and also view the profiles of their own contacts. While myspace and facebook are tailored to keeping members in touch with friends and family. Linkeding is perceived as being more professional for business users.

Social networking sites are also growing at exponential rates and attracting usres of all ages. Facebooks fstest growing segment is users over 25 years of age. Linkedin the business oriented social netwroking site claimes more than 30 million active members with an average age of 41. The social networking websties are tpically divided into three categories: general interest, niche sites with a specific theme, and international sites. The following are the top sites in these three categories:

General Interet

Myspace, faceboook, Hi5, Ning

Niche Sites:

Flixster, Last.fm, Linkedin, Xanga

International Sites: Badoo, Migente, Orkut, Studivz

Corporate Use of Social Networking:

Corporations and smaller businesses havent embraced online business networks with nearly the same abandon as teens and cllege sstudents who have flocked to social sites. Yet companies are steadily overcoming reservations and using the sites and related technology to craft potentially powerful business tools. Recruiters at Microsfot and Starbucks for instance trol online netwroks such as LInkedin for potentaial job condidates. Goldman Sachs and Deloitte run their own online alumni netwroks for hiring back former workers called boomerangs and strengthening bonds with former alums. Maintaining such netwroks will be critical in industries like IT and health care that are likely to be plagued by worker shortages for years to come. Social netwroking can also be important for organizations like IBM, where some 42 percent of employees regularly work from home or client locations. IBM's social netwrok makes it easir to locate employee expertise within the firm, organize virtual work groups, and communicate across large distances. As another example of corporate social netwroks, Reuteres has rolled out Reuters Space,a pricate online community for financial professionals. Profile pagges can also contain a personal blog and news feeds from Reuters or external services. Every profile page is accessible to the entire Reuters Space Community but members can choose whic personal details are available to whom. While IBM and Reuters ave developed their own social network platforms, firms are increasingly turning to third party vendors like SelectMinds adopted by Deloutte, Dow Chemical, and Goldman Sacs and LiveWorld adopted by Intuit, ebay, the NBA, adn scientific American.