Wiki use on the rise at USA’s fastest growing companies

A new study conducted by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Center for Marketing Research confirms the trend I’ve seen especially in the past year – that as soon as people and organizations understand the wiki and its potential, it becomes an indispensable tool. The survey looked at members of the INC 500, a list of companies selected by growth rate rather than revenue, found that for two out of every three, social media tools were either very important or somewhat important to their business strategy.
It’s not surprising that a majority of growing companies are paying attention to these new tools, but what’s really interesting is what’s happening with the wiki. Of the six technologies covered in the survey (blogging, podcasting, online video, bulletin boards, wiki, and social networking), there was greater familiarity than actual use of every technology but wiki. In other words, everyone who was familiar with the wiki was also actively using it. Considering how difficult it can be for a technology to translate attention into real use use, this is an impressive indicator that the wiki has real impact.
It’s important to also note that the wiki had the least familiarity of the six tools, which means there’s a huge potential for growth of the wiki in enterprises. Remember, wiki and edit are good four letter words, so get to know them…and fast!
A more detailed summary of the survey is available here.
(via Putting people first)