The American Chemical Society (ACS) has launched a free social networking site for ACS members and student affiliates at www.acs.org/membernetwork. The ACS Member Network seeks to facilitate scientific collaboration among chemical science professionals around the world.
More than 11,000 ACS members have pre-enrolled in the network since the society began promoting it in early April. Once registered, ACS members can search the entire network of members by name, keyword, area of expertise, technical division, local section and location. They can then invite others to join their personal network and view each other's private profiles. Members can also highlight their publications, and other members can download the citations. New functionality and features will be added over the next year. It is expected that scientists will use the site to connect with members they may already know and leverage the skills and talents of other scientists for knowledge exchange.
Recent years have witnessed an increasing penetration of social networking in the US corporate sector. The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research recently performed a study of social media adoption at 500 of the fastest growing companies in the US. It was found that the use of blogs, podcasting, wikis, online video and social networking has drastically risen in 2008 to nearly double what it was in 2007. Nearly 77 percent of respondents now report at least some use of a social media tool in their business.
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research recently performed a study of social media adoption at 500 of the fastest growing companies in the US. It was found that the use of blogs, podcasting, wikis, online video and social networking has drastically risen in 2008 to nearly double what it was in 2007. Nearly 77 percent of respondents now report at least some use of a social media tool in their business.
According to the study's authors, 26 percent of respondents in 2007 felt that social media is "very important" to their business and marketing strategy. That figure rose to 44 percent in approximately one year.
