HR decision- makers are using online social networking more and more for business purposes.

According to research by Communications Management, eight out of 10 HR professionals belong to online communities or social networking sites in their daily work. One in three (32.3%) have already asked for supplier recommendations through this medium, nearly one in five (16.3%) have vetted a supplier through the same route and one in seven (14.8%) have found a new supplier in this way.

And it has nothing to do with age: those over 45 are as likely as their younger colleagues to use online social networking to ask for supplier recommendations.

Communications Management's research also shows that the trend is likely to accelerate. More than half of respondents (51.8%) to the survey expect to move towards online social networking over the next year compared with only one in five (19.8%) who think they will use it less.