Social content management systems: Challenges and potential for organizations

Abstract

At around the time of the new millennium, Enterprise Content Management (ECM), a concept for the enterprise-wide management of information, emerged. However, the trend toward adapting social media technology brings a new situation for ECM, as organizations are challenged to manage diverse ‘‘social content’’ from social media in order to ensure quality and compliance. At the same time new opportunities arise from social content as a powerful asset for creating business value. Recognizing the importance of social content has led to the development of a new generation of information systems, Social Content Management Systems (SCMS). SCMS are ECM systems that focus on the management of social content. SCMS have yet to receive much attention in research, particularly in terms of their potential benefits and the challenges organizations may face in using them. This paper evaluates the importance, potential benefits, and challenges of SCMS for organizations through a survey of 89 professionals from several countries and industries. For the survey we draw on challenges and potential addressed in the existing literature of SCMS and social media use in organizations.