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According to a recent survey that Dynamic Markets did for AT&T in Europe, employees say that social networking increased their productivity, extended their abilities and enhanced creativity.

A pan-European survey of more than 2,500 people in five countries shows that the use of social networking tools as part of everyday working life has led to an increase in efficiency. The study shows that 65% of employees surveyed in Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands say their company has adopted social networking as part of their working culture. The research also reveals that the rate of adoption is most popular in Germany, leading the way at 72% while Great Britain lags behind with 59%. The study also reveals:

• 65% of employees surveyed say that social networking sites have made them and/or their colleagues more efficient
• 63% say they have enabled them and their colleagues to achieve things that would not otherwise have been possible
• 46% say they have sparked ideas and creativity for them personally

Read more at the Gilbane Group Blog.

Social networking is helpful in the workplace in the same way that other forms of communication are, the telephone for instance. That said, spending the whole day on facebook is about as appropriate as spending the whole work day on the phone with friends. If you are lucky enough to have an employer that allows of even encourages use of social networking, show some appreciation by limiting the amount of ‘personal time’ on social networks and explore business sites like LinkedIn.

An easy way to leverage social nets at work is to talk (or twitter) about what kind of projects you’re working on in your facebook status or join in discussions with others in your field. Experts or those looking for valuable insights should go on LinkedIn Answers and build up your reputation or learn from others in your field.

Employers and managers need to have a social networking policy. Your employees are using already social networking at work. If you don’t see it then they’re doing a good job of hiding it from you. Trying to block access to social networking may seem like an easy fix but would you block telephone access at work? Chances are employees will figure out a way to get around your attempts – probably by using their mobile phone while privately thinking how much you suck for limiting their communication with friends, family, coworkers and peers. Don’t suck, embrace.

• Small business social media use increasing
• Social media for finding a job

photo by Martyn Starkey

I just noticed over on Jerry Ong’s blog that Ping.FM has updated their service to support friendster, Yahoo 360, Delicious. Great to see more social networks added.

I’m still hoping for Skype status updates.

• Cool Skype widget for WordPress
• Cross posting redux: pingPressFM

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According to Nicholas Guan, an OgilvyOne social media researcher, the best social network reach Asians is not always Facebook but on alternative social networks. Does that mean you should advertise on Friendster instead of Facebook if you are selling electric scooters in Malaysia? Of course not because online marketing often about targeting influencers much of whom I suspect are on Facebook. If you are targeting a mass audience your ad dollar might not always be best spent on a social network anyways. Interesting research though.

via PaidContent

• Social Media 2009 – eMarketer predicts transactions for social networks
• 7 Facebook apps for Enterprise 2.0

According to a new study by Rapleaf, women significantly outnumber men on most social networks. This makes sense because women are generally better at keeping in touch with old friends and making new ones.

Will this give women an edge in business since they’ll have more privy to new jobs offered, access to new clients and events? Or will they be missing out on real world opportunities because they are too busy catching up on facebook?

via Read/WriteWeb

• Icondial, Call any phone in the World
• Social networking increases efficiency at work

I’ve made an account on most of the social networks however I’m not on hi5. My 4 year old is already fan of the other hi5. My theory is that whenever the adults show up, the cool kids move on to the next party. Maybe the hi5 keg was just tapped?

Facebook and MySpace get most of the press, but another social network out there is growing much faster than either: hi5. The social network is the world’s fastest growing among the top-10 networks in that category, according to June data from analytics firm comScore.

Hi5 grew 79 percent in the first half of 2008 — twice as fast as any of the other top social networks. The site’s unique visitors grew from 31.4 million in December 2007 to 56.4 million in June 2008. Interestingly, hi5, which is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., says that over 80 percent of its users are outside of the U.S.

via VentureBeat

• comScore: India has fastest growing net population
• India VC up 120 percent

The New York Times is serious about social media. They’ve just announced a tie in with LinkedIn to share stories within your network and get targeted news within your dashboard. The NYT also launched their own social network recently.

In a brilliant move that’s sure to make both newspapers and social networks around the web jealous, the New York Times and LinkedIn, the leading US social network for professionals, are announcing a content partnership tonight that could substantially increase the value for users of both sites. The announcement will be made at the top of the hour, but the integration is live now.

via ReadWriteWeb

• Social networking increases efficiency at work
• Social media for finding a job

Photo by Vanderlin

Head over to new.facebook.com to see the changes.

via Mashable & ReadWriteWeb

• Friend lists add privacy on facebook
• Ping.fm – sync status across networks + invite

via Social Media

• Small business social media use increasing
• Fast companies use social media