The business application of social technologies has created a new paradigm of interaction and contribution, and is creating a new competitive edge for early adopters. By its nature much of the content is conversational and indeed, transitional. However, if it has value in current time, then it may well have value over time. Expert answers, team chats, tagged sources and blog thoughts will have a value for now, but may also have a value for future enquiries or further analysis. Some exchanges may also be the trigger for further actions or business processes, particularly if generated by customers, or on websites, or within case-worker teams. On the downside, they may also have a role to play in staff disputes, compliance audits and litigation.

In this paper, we will consider in more detail the potential benefits of social business systems, clarify the roles of content publishing systems and content management systems, and consider how social content can best be governed while also being exploited for maximum long term benefit.