Create a community memory for group deliberation and brainstorming that stimulates the capture of ideas and facilitates finding information when it is needed. Improve the way individuals think collectively moving from knowledge-sharing to collective knowing. Turn training into a continuous process, not divorced from normal business processes. Attract and retain the best employees by providing access to social capital that is only available within the organization. The explosive multiplication of an individual's ability to find answers to questions is one of the most powerful benefits of an online social network.
Search engines find facts.
People provide solutions to problems. Networks of people can solve problems for each other. Online networks accelerate and globalize the process. Each person in a network knows more than anybody else in the network about at least one special interest and can provide useful knowledge when questions arise concerning their area of expertise. No person is an expert on everything, so we must rely on the expertise of others.