How far has social media impacted business?

A couple of surveys show how much progress the new web has made in the enterprise, and also just how far there is to go.

Joe McKendrick flags a survey from Evans Data (registration required) of 385 corporate managers and developers that found:

• Most Web 2.0 applications are being targeted at internal corporate requirements, versus consumer engagements. Close to half of the survey participants are focused on developing applications for internal use inside their companies. Less than a third are building Web 2.0 applications intended for delivery on a subscription base to online users.

That's progress. So much is written about PR and marketing in relation to social media, so it is refreshing to learn that not everyone has forgotten about the need to internalise and unlock some of the value of conversation. Dennis Howlett says "CXO’s instinctively know that internal collaboration, whether through rudimentary technologies like blogs and wikis hold significant efficiency promise."

Preaching to the converted here, but back on planet Earth, it would no surprise to many that among the findings from a survey of 30 chief communication officers by the Arthur W. Page Society and the Corporate Executive Board was the following:

• Only 25% report having incorporated new media aggressively in the communications department's portfolio

Picking up the the baton to tackle some of the common issues that result in businesses waiting for all of the answers before making a decision, Shel Holtz addresses:

1. Resistance from the legal department
2. Lack of return on investment
3. Too labour intensive
4. Lack of expertise

Maybe the cultural change required to give up control of the message is another obstacle I would flag, though whatever the surveys says, Geoff Livingstone hits it on the head in Now is Gone when he warns, "It is incumbent on communicators to learn new media, not just on a thoeretical level, but as practitioners."