<p>One of the greatest aspects of my job is that I am able to regularly take a deep dive into some of the difficult questions of the day, sometimes providing research and insights into the social networking and enterprise collaboration questions on the minds of analysts and executives alike. Today's question? What is the return on investment (ROI) of social?</p><p>It's not a new question, but the data shared by social technology vendors and practitioners alike leans heavily toward anecdotal data and qualitative impressions, rather than present quantitative data and hard numbers. Trying to Get the Numbers</p><p>While attending the E2 Conference (#e2conf) in Boston this week, several presentations once again tried to address the issue, with panel participants sharing some of their real-world experiences in measuring the benefits of social in the enterprise.</p><p>In a panel event led by InformationWeek Social Business columnist and editor David Carr (@davidfcarr), panelists Vishal Agnihotri from KPMG International, Kristin Waryas from State Street Corporation and Gloria Burke from Unisys Corporation shared some of their insights into the measurement of social ROI. The consensus of the panel was that social is more about marketplace agility, heightening customer service across various organizations (from an internal perspective) and within customer interactions (external).</p><p><a href="http://www.cmswire.com/cms/social-business/what-it-means-to-measure-social-roi-e2conf-021403.php">Keep reading...</a></p>