YAMMER

Yammer is a new social media networking site that targets businesses and university students. The website opened in 2008 and already has over 3 million users. The site is similar to Facebook and Twitter however it is used for more consolidated purposes. Nearly 1700 of the 100,000 organizations that use yammer are educational institutions. Several noneducational organizations and businesses utilize this site as well. Over 80% of fortune 500 companies are active users of the social network.

Yammer is dedicated to being an internal social networking site much like Facebook began as. The site blocks users from joining networks that are not directly affiliated with their email. For example an @txstate.edu email can not connect with a University of Texas network. Very similarly a IMB email cannot connect with an Apple email.

Graduate students that have utilized this tool say that it is a great way to get instant feedback over homework questions or to instigate class discussions. Students have the ability to talk to their professors who are on yammer to get additional information about a topic discussed in class. Many professors have chosen to use this resource as a learning tool and have begun posting assignments on the website. Most undergraduate students claim that their classes are too large for this site to be useful however for smaller classes and group generated assignments this is a great resource for extra help.

Yammer has made it clear that they do not intend to open up their access much like Facebook and Twitter have. They are determined to set themselves apart from these other websites and function as a free private social network.