How to manage risks and issues of online social networking, and fifty ideas to use online social networking to improve your business.

1. Leveraging Online Social
Networking for business
Presented by: Micheal Axelsen
Director
Applied Insight Pty Ltd

2. Introduction

3. About this presentation
Agenda
• Overview
• Dealing with risk
• The business etiquette of online social networking
• Leveraging business opportunities
• Fifty ideas
• Conclusion
Objectives
• This seminar identifies and discusses prominent social networking websites
and identifies some of the commercial applications that social networking
websites can have for businesses.

4. About the speaker
Services
• Micheal Axelsen provides consulting services in
the business governance of information
technology, and the development and
implementation of strategies for the management
of information technology
Position and qualifications
• Director of Applied Insight Pty Ltd
• Chair of CPA Australia Information Technology &
Management Centre of Excellence
• Qualifications
– Bachelor of Commerce (Hons)
– Masters of Information Systems
– FCPA

5. Meeting the challenges of IT
Information Technology & Management Centre of Excellence
Forthcoming: Social networking policies & procedures
Online social networking etiquette

6. Your expectations
Housekeeping
– Exits, etc
Expectations
– Audience demographics
– What are your expectations from this session?
Strawpoll: Who uses social networking websites?
– MySpace, FaceBook, Friendster, MyYahoo, Twitter, Flickr,
Photobucket, SchoolFriends, Blogger, LiveJournal, Tumblr,
Microsoft Live...
– Blogs/Vlogs? Others?
Strawpoll: Who didn’t know about these websites?
Strawpoll: Anybody here ‘Vlog Naked’?
– (sorry, just wondering)

7. Overview

8. What is social networking?
Definition
– Online social networking sites are web-based
services that allow individuals to construct a public (or
semi-public) profile within a bounded system, identify
other users with whom they share a connection, and
view and traverse their list of connections and those
made by others within the system.
– They are simply websites that allow you to maintain
relationships with friends online, sharing and talking
about common interests
– Some social networking websites are internal
(private) and some are external (public)

9. The world of online social networking
Image from www.xkcd.com/256 Some Rights Reserved.

10. Dealing with risk

11. What can happen?

12. What can happen?
Alritey. The names Ryan workin at #### #### At the moment to get the
money to go out and enjoy my much appreciated young life. As far as i
know i enjoy life to the max, i love to get wrecked, mwi and be around
mates and loud music. No better way to spend a weekend than gettin out
my #### in one way or another and be surrounded by loud music and
knowing that i have a stunning girlfriend when i go home.

13. Some “funny” examples

14. Business risks of social networking
Productivity losses
– Addictive and time-consuming
– Over-use during work time is a genuine issue
– Can actually increase the productivity and
effectiveness for some roles
Legal risks
– Generally employers can monitor their employees‟
web use and email, but notice is needed. Can result
in legal liability
– Potential for legal liability due to customer actions
Reputation risk
– A risk to the business‟s reputation
– Many examples of gaffes & negative comments
– Difficult to remove these comments

15. Business risks of social networking
Viruses and spyware
– Frequently a platform for malicious attacks using
viruses and spyware
Privacy breaches and identity theft
– Can promote identity theft, even where „private‟
– Third party applications usually get access to data
Social engineering
– Use online information to commit targeted acts of
fraud
– Could profess to be the assistant to a high-level staff
member, and know enough „internal‟ information to
convince a staff member to provide cheques or goods
– Convincing identity cards/business cards used to gain
access to the business or its customers
– Grandparent fraud

16. Business risks of social networking
Inadvertent release of information
– Windows into the lives of users
– Unintentional release
– LinkedIn shows your network your recent connections
– who are probably prospective clients
– Using an online wiki to collaborate with a client (or
even to track tasks and manage projects) may result
in the release of confidential client information

17. AS/NZS 4360:2004 Risk Management

18. Some business examples of issues
• Staff issues:
– Employees sacked for blogging
– Using firm email addresses to argue with clients
Embarrassing photos of office Christmas parties
– Employees with „lewd‟ Facebook sites
• Customer/online reputation issues:
– Suing Whirlpool
– Twitter & Best-Buy
– Comcast technician falling asleep while on hold –
Youtube FTW!

19. Internal and external privacy issues,
and other related issues
• Productivity cost • Employees may
(cyber-slacking) become stalker
• Phishing attacks, risk targets
of spyware, viruses • Submit intellectual
• Unintended property
consequences • Inadvertently transfer
• Spur of the moment intellectual property to
tweets a client

20. Tailoring your response

21. Business etiquette

22. Google Alerts
www.google.com/alerts

23. Business etiquette
• Encourage discussions to flourish by providing and
promoting the use of online forums.
• Give good service and hope that people talk about it
online
• Demonstrate an interest and respond online to address a
grievance, and be transparent about it
• Consider the use of professional monitoring services
• Use low-cost solutions such as Google Alerts, Yahoo
Alerts, or MonitorThis.
• Ensure that your service representatives join online,
private, forums and „lurk‟ for issues

24. Business etiquette
• Set clear expectations as to what staff can do with your
brand name on the internet
• Never post a hot and angry response to a negative
comment online.
• Don‟t exercise legal muscle to have a blog post or other
message taken down unless you really have to
• Respond to a negative comment with transparency and
honesty, but take up discussions off-line at a senior
level.
• Sometimes, leaving it lie is the best option.
• Never lie and pretend to be a customer – you will be
found out eventually, and the price will be high!

25. Business etiquette
• Avoid a search
engine optimisation
solution to „drown‟ a
negative comment
• Invite genuine
customers to respond
in a forum
• Ensure that potential
recruits know if you
are researching them
online

26. For individuals
• Bring the common sense that is used in the „real‟ world
into the „virtual‟ world.
• Never post in your real name – set up three email
addresses:
• Personal, anonymous email address that forwards to
your main email
• Personal (for all your personal email)
• Work (for work email – no personal email!)
• Be responsible when writing messages on other people‟s
sites
• Get permission before you post a photo of someone
online

27. For individuals
• Only „friend‟ friends!
• Be coy about your age
• Use the privacy options available on social networking
websites
• Limit the sites you participate in – perhaps FaceBook for
friends, LinkedIn for work colleagues?
• Limit the number of applications (for example, („Which
Princess are you?‟) you „accept‟ on social networking
websites.
• Set up Google Alerts to monitor your name and email
address

28. Leveraging business
opportunities

29. What is OSN being used for by
business?
• Increased professional contacts, exposure to new ideas
• Use the network to recruit new employees
• Allow new-hires to mix with current employees
• It is good when customers say positive things about the
business
• Online reputation monitoring & proactive customer
support

30. Maintaining client relationships
Blogs
– Promote and
discuss on your
own blogs
– Get a groundswell of discussion
Communities
– Build relationships between users and the company
products
Video on user-generated sites
– Viral marketing promotion
– Audience gives more weight to genuine user
experiences than paid TV spots

31. Maintaining client relationships
Support forums
– Customers can answer their own problems online
– Customers can help each other
– Become aware of issues much sooner
– Proactive support e.g. Direct2Dell
Wikis
– Customers can answer their own problems online
– Self-documenting
– Save on publishing costs and corrections

32. Sales
Social networking sites
– Can target sales (but need to be careful!)
– Create groups & events e.g. Friends of Ford
Brand ambassador programs
– Identify loyal customers who bring others into your
community
Communities
– Understand and target sales
Embeddable widgets
– Users can prove brand loyalty
– Points of presence for sales

33. Research and development
Brand monitoring
– Understand the reach and impact of your brand
– Know what is being said in the „hearts and minds‟ and
be more reactive
Research communities
– Share and build ideas within internal and external
communities to test their value
Innovation communities
– Users can provide recommendations for new features
– Communities of users can vote on new features to
guide product or feature development

34. Operations
Internal social networks
– Cross-fertilisation of ideas
– From front line to back office – e.g. Blue Shirt Nation
(Best Buy Inc)
– Promote the sense of culture and can bring together
widely dispersed/loosely coupled workforces
Wikis
– Provides a platform to develop self-organising teams
– Take on responsibility and change
External social networks
– Leverage employees‟ networks to hire new staff

35. Strategic impact on future business
3 1
4
2
5
6

36. Strategic response

37. Fifty Ideas

38. Fifty ideas (some might even be good!)
Marketing Recruitment
1. Viral video 11. Current staff „Friend‟ new recruits
2. Twitter account for product 12. MySpace advertising
3. Product Facebook fan page 13. Ask staff on OSN to use networks
4. Use Twitter to engage media 14. Company fan pages
5. CEO Blog 15. Create OSN for recruitment
6. search.twitter.com RSS 16. Use OSN search to „reference
7. Google alerts check‟ candidates
8. Create a Facebook widget 17. Use OSN to headhunt candidates
9. Watch and learn 18. Mention jobs within LinkedIn groups
10. Put Presentations on Slideshare 19. Ask new staff to blog/vlog/tweet their
experiences
20. Staff Alumni OSN

39. Fifty ideas (some might even be good!)
Internal communication Training
21. Use Yammer between staff 31. YouTube your training sessions
22. Convert intranet to an OSN 32. Use YouTube videos in your training
23. Internal vlogging for projects 33. Use podcasts for training
24. Community of Practice Wikis 34. Use SlideShare to find presenters
25. Create virtual teams on new topics, and skype them in
26. RSS external newsfeeds 35. Use Facebook/your own OSN to
27. Wiki to work track attendance at training events
28. Yammer your timesheets 36. OSN surveys for training feedback
29. Flickr photos, with GeoTagging, of 37. Have staff blog/wiki their learning
remote offices/sites and peer-assess for CPD
30. Create OSN for the social club and 38. MP3 record training sessions,
family! create a podcast (marketing,
recruitment, & training)

40. Fifty ideas (some might even be good!)
The final 12
39. Use FriendFeed to „stalk‟ research 45. Use Web 2.0/OSN to communicate
the activities of your competitors & monitor your delivery of strategy
40. Use OSN to help telecommuters 46. Use Twitter to turn the coffee
feel more connected machine on in the staff room before
41. Create an @fakecompetitor on you get to work
Twitter.... naw, just kidding 47. Use QIK to broadcast AGMs
42. Use Yammer to cut down on 48. Publish your delivery
„group emails‟ across the routes/pipelines/infrastructure
enterprise assets on Google Maps
43. Create a mashup website of your 49. Replace your client newsletters with
product, newsfeed, Google Mapos an online social network
and retailers 50. Keep looking out for what things you
44. Research a client‟s personal can use online social networking for!
needs and target accordingly

41. Conclusion

42. Concluding questions?
Conclusion
Review the expectations wall
– How did we go?
– Look at the fifty ideas
Applied Insight Pty Ltd Services
– Social networking training for staff
– Social networking review for your
business
– Social networking policies &
procedures
– Developing and implement online
social networking strategy

43. Contact details
Micheal Axelsen Applied Insight Pty Ltd
Director, Applied Insight Pty Ltd PO Box 603
Toowong DC 4066
m: 0412 526 375
AUSTRALIA
t: +61 7 3139 0325
e: micheal.axelsen@appliedinsight.com.au
blog: www.michealaxelsen.com