Obviously, a network creates links. But I do believe that not feeling isolated is crucial to make a good work. Even if you do not need to ask others, you just know you can, and you work with less stress. Besides, if you don't need help, giving some can help you fit in. Social capital in itself is as important as knowing you have it.
Then, do you think that social networking is a way of improving your social capital? Or do you think that a strong personal social capital is a prerequisite for powerful social networking?
Actually, social capital is now a whole part of your professional success. I think it is both frightening and motivating to realize that maybe half of your achievements at work will need to be done through others...! But working together is very stimulating. That requires trust and teamspirit.
Social capital now seems as important as human capital... I mean that knowing the right people and strategic people is as important as your own knowledge... Skill profiling kind of helps bringing these two capitals together... (From "Six Myths about informal networks and how to overcome them", in the MIT Sloan Management Review : "Skill profiling requires employees to record their expertise and experience in a central, searchable database, updating their file as new projects yield new skills or knowledge.").
It makes me think about what we often here about big companies... Heartless, inhumane, only driven by profit-making... We often imagine them as a bunch of mean shareholders... I believe that it would help some organization to sensitize public opinion about social networking.
This way, they could attract some new employees who would be ready to participate and have some "social predispositions". On top of that, it would help "re-humanizing" the corporation to people's eyes.
