The newly released ASTD/i4cp research report, The Rise of Social Media: Enhancing Collaboration and Productivity Across Generations, found social media technologies to still be gaining traction in the workplace relative to increases in personal usage. For example, nearly two-thirds of respondents said they used social networks, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, either often or all the time in their personal lives, whilst only 20 percent said they did so for work-related learning. Many organizations have not fully integrated and formalized social media technologies within the workplace and therefore adoption of social media technologies is not as widespread in the workplace. Employers increasingly need to figure out how to leverage social media within their organization, so that they don't fall behind as both an employer of choice and as a learning organization.

Although many employees have embraced shared workspaces, such as Google Docs and SharePoint, and social networks, it doesn't mean that all social media technologies have become mainstream. Other technologies, such as social bookmarking, virtual worlds, and augmented realities have yet to gain the same kind of popularity, both in the workplace and for personal use. Additionally, generational differences were observed in the survey responses, as younger generations (Millennials) were more likely to use the majority of technologies more often than older generations (Baby Boomers), with only a couple of exceptions - podcasts and virtual worlds.

Although self-reported usage was relatively low, there are many signs that social media usage will increase for on-the-job learning. More than 80 percent of respondents said use of social media for learning within their organization would increase over the next 3 years. Additionally, a growing proportion of the future workforce will be from the Millennial generation (born after 1981), who use social media technologies more than Generation Xers and Baby Boomers, both at home and at work, and therefore one could anticipate social media usage to increase within the workplace.

Members can download a discounted copy of the reportfrom the store.

For more information on social media consider attending the Social Media: Who's Using it for Workplace Learning? session at the ASTD 2010 International Conference and Exposition!