For many, social networking seems complicated, mysterious,intimidating and even a bit scary. While the social Web is a hottopic, it is not new. Many activities on social networking are nodifferent than the real-life activities we have engaged in most ofour lives. If you have ever asked for or given advice, given orreceived a recommendation, shared an experience, collaborated on aproject, or interacted with a group: You have participated insocial networking.

Over the past year I have had the opportunity to speak withagencies, brokers and carriers who are building a strategies andstarting to embark on social Web journeys. The growing popularityof social networking has attracted their attention and usersbelieve these platforms open new business opportunities. Theyrecognize the rapid rise in the Main Street acceptance of socialnetworking and see more insurance customers continuing to migrateonline and adopt social networking to do research and buyinsurance. These pioneer agencies are discovering its value as anessential tool for communication, customer engagement, leadgeneration, real-time customer contact, customer service, customerinteraction and relationship building.

But it's also true that the opportunity presented by the socialWeb is not without risk. Insurance organizations have legitimateconcerns about issues such as privacy, errors and omissions,security, and protecting proprietary information. They areconcerned how employees “behave” online and the image they projectwhen representing their organizations. I have found that creating asocial Web policy is a invaluable strategy in dealing with theseissues and in gaining management acceptance.