Younger Workers Leading Web 2.0

Younger employees are leading the drive in the private sector to adopt new technologies to network, communicate and collaborate with colleagues.

A new study by Nielsen Norman Group found that despite the hype over wikis, blogs and social networks, adoption of such tools is still a grassroots effort led by the frontline, younger workers rather than by the organization as a whole. These younger, 20-something workers also expect blogs, wikis, RSS feeds and other outlets in the workplace.

But senior managers still consider such tools something their teenagers use, Nielsen found, highlighting a disconnect between management and their subordinates. But while managers risk losing workers who expect Web 2.0 tools in the workplace, they also are faced with possible consequences, such as information leaks, of implementing Web 2.0 tools too quickly, Nielsen found.

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