Another day, another announcement. This time, Microsoft has announced its move into the social networking market to compete with the Facebook and myspaces.com (see article).

However, the real opportunity is in the corporate market where there are 100 million knowledge workers in the US alone.   Although slower to adopt to new market trends, companies possess large 'social networks' of their own -- clients, employees, investors, suppliers, and partners -- that have always wanted to share information. And this information includes business and industry best practices, professional contact information and supplier requirements.

But that is only the tip of the iceberg. As the corporate social networks mature, their members will share insights, answers and experiences in order to improve their personal and team performance based on real-life activities -- versus the research now provided by market researchers.

The good news is this: as an ex-McKinsey & Company consultant who had clients that always asked me, "How can I learn what my peers are doing?" I was not at liberty to share that intelligence.  But now, the ability to provide real-time knowledge on-demand is both exciting and exhilirating!  So let the social networking game emerge, because the corporate networking opportunity is following right behind. - Barry 4/26/06