1. Social networks and corporate
environment: dream or reality?
Relationships through social networks have already come true. Many
companies are aware of social networks and have inserted them in their
business strategy, expanding their toolset that potencialize internal and
external collaboration. However, there are still companies living in “Alice’s
world”.
By Renata Santiago -2009
ALICE
Calm and comfortable in their daily life, the Alice Company was running their
business at a steady pace. It requested and issued information only when
necessary, enjoying an unshattered reputation from their more than 20 years
operating. Their employees, clients and other audiences with whom they
engaged in relationships consumed a range of ready-made information created
by a long, time-consuming writing, assessment, publication and time process.
There was nothing better than let it be.
THE RABBIT-HOLE
Wiki is a Hawaiian word for “quick”. Some few years passed by and Alice saw
herself in a global environment receiving information in real time. She got
scared with wars broadcast on TV, climate violence and the endless
repercution of facts. A little bit forward, the shock: Alice falls through the
Rabbit-hole and becomes aware that time and space is gone. That local and
global walk hand in hand. It is a fluid dimension now, immersed into a vortex of
information going back and forth in an insurmountable speed and produced by
all. Is this a dream or reality? Where is Alice?
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Well-educated and careful, Alice goes through Wonderland and every step
brings her a surprise. “I shall be too late”, repeats the rabbit Twitter. There are
more than 20 million Twitter users worldwide, exchanging posts non-stop. News
is not new or hot anymore.

2. Alice meets rabbit Twitter, but to follow him is near impossible.
He seems to be always some steps ahead. Despite all
warnings, Alice enters the Social Media Kingdom. The cards
are on the table: LinkedIn, Orkut, Facebook, YouTube. Which
card to pick? Which strategy to develop? To deal with all these
cards that connect, represent and express million of people
around the world were not in Alice’ plans.Having no place to
hide and with no answers, Alice could only face the merciless
Queen of Social Networks. Implacable and armed with
collaboration forces, the Queen demands Alice to think, adapt,
and act. But Alice is still confused and hears the inevitable: “Off
with her head!”
DREAM OR REALITY
The “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is an excellent
backdrop for the heated discussion on the application of social
networks and other Web 2.0 initiatives for corporations.
Environments 2.0 are already engrained in society, with a role
on daily activities of children, teenagers and grown-ups giving
a whole new meaning to “relationship”. However, such reality is
still barely applied on corporate environments and in many
cases leadership is the main barrier, afraid to drink from the
bottle and get down the Rabbit-hole.
THE REALITY
A resourceful research that generated the book “Gestão
2.0” (Management 2.0) by Ph.D. José Cláudio Terra and
collaborators, unveils two different corporate realities: several
global organizations have already turned using Web 2.0 into
reality to enhance productivity of their processes and how their
employees work.

3. In the other hand, some companies are not ready to
deploy collaborative business models as they still apply
leadership practices made inflexible by controlling,
threatening behaviours.
But companies that have already adopted collaborative
initiatives on practice
leadership move towards an exciting competitive edge:
the relationship capital, focused on reputation, reliability,
and network management. Some key contributions from
using
Web 2.0 tools on exercising leadership include:
• Faster speed on generating content for communicating
leadership
• Improved interactivity and transparency on
communication by posting comments
• Mitigation of barriers between company’s leadership
and employees
• Diversity of channels in the communication mix,
allowing for creating more targeted
media
• Strategic, cultural and institutional alignment
• Almost instantaneous measurement of actions
exercised in collaborative environments.

4. IS THIS THE END?
The future of cyberculture in society and
business is still in the open. But the application of
its relationship tools aligned to business goals
and properly deployed can impact corporate life
in a dramatically positive fashion. Growth may
cause pain. But if it is difficult to choose which
barrrier to overcome, and how to overcome
them, gather your team, specialists, consultants
and everyone wishing to build a productive
digital culture for your company. And remember:
collaboration is the key for developing successful
2.0 initiatives.For communication professionals,
an alert: A challenge that must be faced and has
a critical role by internal communication teams is
leadership awareness and guidance for
dedication and commitment to the success of the
selected digital initiative. But this is also another
story!
* * *
Renata Santiago is a TerraForum consultant. Her
e-mail is
renata.santiago@terraforum.com.br