Big companies more sociable than ever, survey finds

Social networking has gone mainstream for America's biggest companies. The majority of Fortune 1000 companies now use social media — not only to promote their brands, but also to eavesdrop on their customers, according to a recent survey. Consultant firm Capgemini asked 302 Fortune 1000 company senior executives about their activities on social media sites such as Facebook, and 52% said they had a presence on social networks. The executives are even more interested in keeping tabs on what consumers are saying about their companies and products, with 57% saying they monitor online conversations. Much of the time, they lurk quietly in the background, and 41% said they only respond to an online conversation when a customer poses a direct question. The marketing department is in charge of social media monitoring in 64% of companies. The respondents were split about evenly on whether they outsource oversight of social media, with 48% saying they do it in-house.