Everyone claims they are doing it, but hardly anyone is measuring the effect on their business – findings from a survey in August 09 on social media use by US based Mzinga and Babson Executive Education.

The survey found that while 86% of their sample said they were using social tools in some way  only 16% said they measured ROI.

More worryingly, 40% of respondents didn’t know if they COULD measure social media, though many of these presumably operate outside of online pr or marketing and are unfamiliar with the analytic options available to them.

The survey’s findings are really no surprise for a medium at the adoption phase of its cycle. While the silicon valley lead US is discussing how to improve measurement, the rest of the world is probably still looking at the new baby, wondering what to do with it.