The Social Layer Is Coming: Does Every App Need It?

Author: Jim Lundy              Date: November 18, 2011

Topics: Social Software     Research Note Number: 2011-19

Collaboration

Issues: What are the trends in social software?

What are the trends impacting collaboration in the enterprise?

Planning Assumption: By year end 2015, social platforms will evolve into knowledge platforms.

Summary: Almost every major enterprise software provider offers or plans to offer a full or limited set of social capabilities with their applications. This will lead to social overload. Enterprises need to walk the social tightrope carefully.

Nearly all major enterprise software providers are getting into the social software game. This will not only create confusion but can also lead to social overload. Pending integration of activity feeds will allow for one activity stream that can be customized for users or specific groups of users, but also risks overload. This Research Note looks at how rapidly social abilities are being added to multiple applications (the social layer), how to cope with this “social hype” and how the enterprise software space will evolve.

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