On Feb. 4, 2004, the first handful of users at Harvard University logged onto the newly launched thefacebook.com, the predecessor to Facebook. Just a dozen years later, 2 billion people — nearly one-third of the planet — are on Social Media. The speed at which adoption has spread is almost certainly unprecedented in the history of the world.

No wonder companies — and their employees — are struggling to keep up. After initial skepticism, businesses have raced to Social media, chasing the estimated three-quarters of consumers who now say social media influences their buying decisions. Nearly 90% of U.S. companies are currently using Twitter, Facebook and other networks — jockeying for their share of the estimated $1.3 trillion in value that social media stands to unlock, according to analysts McKinsey and Company.

Just one small problem: The contemporary workforce is woefully underprepared for the challenges ahead. A social media skills gap of epic proportions has opened up, as social media races ahead while formal training and education programs lag seriously behind. How bad is it? Among 2,100 companies surveyed by Harvard Business Review, a meagre 12% of those using social media feel they use it effectively, stats echoed in researchby Capgemini and other industry consultants. Reports of social media gaffes and blunders in the workplace are, of course, commonplace. Yet, the real price of the skills gap often goes unnoticed: billions of dollars in lost opportunities and revenue.

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