I answered this question on Quora, in January 2011. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge, many organizations are deploying internal social networks at breakneck speed, but the basics of adoption remain the same. (Original post here)
There is a temptation to go the “if you build it, they will come” route for internal social networks. Unfortunately it doesn’t work. The single biggest challenge for an internal social network is the competition from the external social network (read Facebook) Most people already have an account, interact with their colleagues, classmates, family and other friends, spend a considerable amount of time even during working hours (see this Mashable – The Social Media Guide post). The challenge for internal communicators is rather unique.
In my opinion (and experience), you need to take care of the following:
1) Actively promote: going “viral” leaves too much to chance. You shouldn’t design anything to go viral. You should have a proper communications plan to promote your social network.
2) Develop content: create a bank of exciting, relevant and business-oriented content, at least for the initial quarter or half year.
3) Identify and develop ambassadors and champions: the key to success are some enthusiastic users who can sustain conversation for some time, build traffic and act as mentors to new joinees.
4) Don’t forget the technicals: usually communicators tend to shrug away the tech part – design, usability and scalability. God help you if you aren’t involved in the decision to buy the product, the tech support investment required and all that.
5) Last, but probably the most important: identify the business objective and stick to it. Everything – the tool you choose, the support you need, the content you develop and the enthusiasts you charter should be aligned to this goal.
I speak of this from a content-driven social networking (like blogs, Q&As, idea-sharing) rather than the 140 character tools. I am not such a fan of Yammer, because it seldom gets past the firewall. This also works for photo-driven social media sites.
Hope this is useful.
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