Social networks and Web 3.0: their impact on the management and marketing of organizations

Brokering knowledge in the management field - INBAM 2012

Edited by Domingo Ribeiro Soriano

1. Introduction

Progress in information, communication and multimedia technologies and the increasing expansion and use of the internet, intranets, extranets, web sites, etc., are generating gradual innovation in diverse areas, leading to the proliferation of new business styles based on information and knowledge ([14] Garrigos, 2010), where the importance of networks, partnerships and alliances between firms and other agents is crucial. New networks and the advances in so-called Web 3.0 technologies are changing firm structures and value chains or value networks, and the configuration of decision-making processes for managers. Their efficient use is therefore crucial in the modern social and business environment in order to create and consolidate the competitive advantages of modern-day businesses.

This paper analyzes the importance of social networks in the new context, the effect of Web 3.0 on the management and marketing of organizations, and the way organizations can exploit these changes. Specifically, the paper concentrates on exploring the importance of community managers and the relevance of crowdsourcing processes in order to cope with new changes.

2. The importance of social networks and virtual communities

The significance of social networks is emphasized in the modern environment because of their proliferation, together with virtual communities, and their joint effect on organizational behavior. Although social networks can mean different things in different contexts and for different users ([4] Boyd and Ellison, 2007; [53] Van Zyl, 2009), [4] Boyd and Ellison (2007, p. 211) define them as:

Web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.

Meanwhile, a virtual community could be defined as a "group of people who may or may not meet one another face-to-face, and who exchange words and ideas through the mediation of computer bulletin boards and networks" ([29] Rheingold, 1993, p. 58), or as technology-supported cyberspace, focusing on the communication and interaction of its participants and the building-up of relationships among members, to generate specific domain knowledge that enables participants to perform common functions, and to learn...