The Australian Enterprise Social Media and Collaboration Report 2011, released by Frost & Sullivan, predicted that staff familiarity with social media will cause its use in the enterprise to grow in excess of 25 per cent between 2013 and 2015.

Frost & Sullivan's ICT research director, Audrey William, said the report shows that the role of social media is changing collaboration.

"The online social communities that individuals have built up in the past few years are now spilling over into work," William said. "As a result the role of social media is changing."

William said a desire to collaborate with other staff members internally is driving the uptake, but that customer-driven initiatives are also relying on Web 2.0 technology.

"Right now, the ability to collaborate and share information internally is one of the main reasons organisations encourage the use of social media," she said. "Over time, this approach will be extended to include customer-facing functions."