Tom Meloche: Credibility, Network Effects, and Privacy

The idea of using Facebook as a corporate training tool is a very interesting one. It has more of an appeal than traditional “onboarding” techniques, and can help refresh the skills of existing workers. With the age gap of Facebook users growing larger and larger, it could be a very credible way to help train and recruit employees. Another benefit Meloche sees to using the social networking site for training is that prospective clients will see the number of employees using the training application and it will influence their decision to do business with the company. The idea of using a wiki type program to build and maintain job related knowledge for the application is also an innovative and practical idea. My Writing for the World Wide Web course used a similar application of wiki technology. In relation to our discussion of how wiki’s could realistically replace textbooks in the future, we maintained a class wiki. In it, our class created articles on just about anything related to writing and general, as well as many things relating to computer and internet technology. One thing we learned about wiki technology though, is that it requires vigilant moderation to be sure that potential vandalism or just simple erroneous publication does not damage the credibility of the whole wiki’s content. However, a corporation running the wiki would be able to use resources to monitor such an application effectively. I believe that such an application of Facebook as a corporate tool has a sense of irony to it. Many employers see participation on social networking sites as damaging to corporate credibility. Many stories have surfaced of how many Human Resources professionals have found questionable behavior by potential job applicants, and denied them employment. However, this use of Facebook could help enhance social networking website’s image within the corporate world. Nick Orr