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No one of us is as smart as all of us
Author(s) -
Rosette Jean
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
bju international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1464-410X
pISSN - 1464-4096
DOI - 10.1111/bju.12295
Subject(s) - cystectomy , surprise , quality (philosophy) , work (physics) , bladder cancer , control (management) , medicine , psychology , public relations , computer science , cancer , political science , engineering , social psychology , mechanical engineering , philosophy , epistemology , artificial intelligence
Facebook recently sold a minority stake to Microsoft for US$240m. Mark Zuckerberg, the brainchild behind the social networking website originally came up with the idea as a way of enabling his university friends to keep in touch. Now, less than two years after the site was made available to the general public, it generates more than 250,000 new registrations daily. No longer exclusive to teenagers and university graduates, it has become one of, if not the most popular social networking site in the world, attracting people of all ages and from all walks of life. Social networking sites are also becoming increasingly popular in the business world. Business-oriented social networking sites such as LinkedIn are proving useful in strengthening and extending existing networks of professional contacts. The powerful connectivity and sharing of information has been harnessed in many organisations and new benefits are being realised all the time. Most organisations have an intranet and internet site, many have extranet sites too. For a long time websites have been no more than an online newspaper, relaying information electronically to a wide audience. Technology now allows information to flow both ways. The internet has become a place for social interaction and information exchange, with users able to easily add content to enrich the spread of information. Wikipedia is a great example of how user content can build a vast encyclopaedia of knowledge. There has been much debate over the accuracy of the content, but some argue that the peer review of the information gives a more rounded and enriched source of information. Wikipedia has definitely made encyclopaedias hip and accessible to a younger generation and access to information more readily available. So is there a place for social networking in the workplace? Many organisations would say 'no', and have banned the use of social networking sites over concerns about the loss of productivity. Others have optimised these new communication channels to improve business operations. KPMG recruited 14 per cent of its new employees last year through Facebook. 1 Managers were using the network to ask around if anyone knew someone who would fit the bill for the new roles. Other organisations have used company alumni groups in order attract ex employees back into their organisation. Coles Myer supermarkets have numerous groups on Facebook. Some are set up by employees of a particular branch to network and keep in touch; others are less …