The insurance industry, a very conservative bunch, is not known for being on the bleeding or leading edge of new business technology.

However, social networking appears to be catching on as a tool for some insurers.  According to a recent report, CSC, a consulting and integration firm that services the industry, launched an online service called “WikonnecT,”
a business-to-business social networking site for the property & casualty” sector, and has been seeing impressive growth since its launch last fall.

At last report, WikonnecT now  has 8,000 users from nearly 700 insurance companies interacting across more than 100 communities. The site is now being extended to its life insurance and annuity clients. Unfortunately, the community is only open to CSC clients.

So if an industry as technically conservative as insurance starts embracing social networking, you know the trend has legs. Social networking may even help take some of the “boring” aspect out of insurance products, another industry observer states.

Chad Mitchell, senior analyst with Forrester Research Inc., recently penned a report titled “Crafting an Insurance Social Media Strategy,” in which he comes right out and states that “property/casualty and life insurers market some of the most boring consumer products and brands.”

However, Mitchell adds, emerging direct brands such as Esurance and traditional agent-based insurers such as Liberty Mutual Insurance are developing their social media strategies, and trying to change brand perceptions. Here are some examples:

“Auto and life insurance customers continue to flock online to research and buy insurance. And insurance agents use social networks for training and recruiting. Insurance eBusiness executives should build a social strategy that addresses customers’ and agents’ problems, prepares for risks, and measures what matters.”

The impact on internal operations should also be interesting to watch as social networking permeates the industry. Insurance organizations are full of silos and separate departments. Boosting collaboration between claims processing and field agents, for example, could go a long way toward better expediting claims, resolving disputes, and ultimately in boosting customer satisfaction.