Social Media and Corporate Function

I found the article by Josh Bernoff at Forrester most interesting and, to some extent, amusing! It's that awkward 'no person's land' or stand-off situation with what Josh terms the 'Purists' on one side and the 'Corporatists' on the other. The Purists distrust what the corporate types have in mind for social media tools and the potential for control over what happens, whilst the Corporatists are reluctant to get involved in social media arenas. I can certainly understand the distrust and reluctance on 'both sides' but perhaps it's not so much of an 'us and them' thing after all. Blogs have really taken off on so many sites, including mainstream ones like the Sydney Morning Herald. Surely it's only the next step for corporate people to get involved even if they do have the interests of their companies at heart?

With the millions of users of social software around the globe, and next generations living and breathing it every day, I think it is inevitable anyway. I can see why people may have concerns about corporations taking over the Internet but I think that would be quite difficult in some ways and the Internet always seems to keep ahead of business just enough to ensure free thinking and expression, etc.

Again, with so many people using social software it would be crazy for corporations (and other non-so-commercial entities, like the Powerhouse Museum blog states) to 'get with it' and use these tools to enhance their own operations.