Enterprise Social Networking (ESN) is a term that refers to the use of online platforms and software by businesses to facilitate communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing among employees. It began with the rise of social networking sites in the 1990s and has since evolved with platforms such as Facebook[2]. Businesses use ESN for various purposes, including internal communication, employee collaboration, customer[3] interaction, and information sharing. Despite its benefits, ESN also presents certain challenges. These include issues related to adoption, transparency, perception of professionalism, as well as concerns about privacy[4] and security[5]. Additionally, it involves the use of social media[1] within a business context, known as Corporate Social Media, which comes with its own set of challenges and opportunities.
Enterprise social networking focuses on the use of online social networks or social relations among people who share business interests and/or activities. Enterprise social networking is often a facility of enterprise social software (regarded as a primary component of Enterprise 2.0), which is essentially social software used in "enterprise" (business/commercial) contexts. It encompasses modifications to corporate intranets (referred to as social intranets) and other classic software platforms used by large companies to organize their communication, collaboration and other aspects of their intranets. Enterprise social networking is also generally thought to include the use of a standard external social networking service to generate visibility for an enterprise.