After six years using the same platform and design, the Wall Street Journal online is set to release a major overhaul tomorrow with the goals of improving usability, getting more social, and turning more visitors into paid subscribers. It's a significant milestone in a Dow Jones redesign effort that began before News Corp. took the reins. Over 18 months in the making, the new WSJ.com's most significant feature will be a Journal Community for paid subscribers. "It's more a place for subscribers to connect, exchange ideas, start discussions, etc.," Ashley Huston of WSJ's Corporate Communications told Ars Technica. "They can also ask questions of each other and interact with our reporters and editors."

"Last week I was on a panel at Office 2.0 discussing "who owns community?" Organizational Development was just one topic we explored, and ZDnet has a brief video excerpt. In this post, let me clarify my comments."

"Many companies have started to use social networking. Some have set up groups on Facebook and other existing sites. Others are starting their own social networking sites. These can be standalone sites or a tab on the firm’s web site. Last week I spoke with Catherine Brown, Director of Business Social Networking at Dotster, a provider of internet businesses services, on best practices for business social networking."