Online social networking becoming strategic business tool

By Simon van Wyk

A story in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal discusses how online social networking is being embraced in the business world.

The story says that many of the new professional social networking sites are free to members with revenue coming “from advertising or charging outside businesses access to data and member discussions. The story cites Sermo.com, a social-networking site for doctors which charges $100,000 to $150,000 a year to non-medical companies which use it to research such things as how doctors feel about new drugs.

“Members say they don’t mind that their conversations are accessible to others, particularly since their identities are concealed. In this, Sermo is different from many other sites. Doctors are generally more interested in getting treatment advice and access to other doctors’ experiences than in networking for new business partners. As a result, the site doesn’t require users to use their real names, although Sermo itself verifies and holds the identities of everyone who registers.”