A growing number of technology companies and software start-ups are trying to make business applications more “social,” as business-software vendors and customers look to take advantage of people’s increasing interest in social networking, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Over the past few years, software makers such as Microsoft Corp., International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Cisco Systems Inc. have incorporated Facebook-like social features, such as status updates and information feeds, into their software.

Recently, the trend has picked up steam. In January, Tibco Software Inc. launched tibbr, an online tool that allows co-workers to follow one another at work, as well as alerts generated by other business applications.

The $12 per user per month software can be offered as a service or installed on a company’s own server systems. Tibco Executive Vice President Ram Menon said the “social approach” allows tibbr to display relevant information for users quickly.

Social business applications are typically meant to make workers more productive by helping them communicate in more effective ways.

Research firm IDC estimated that spending on social business applications will grow to $630 million this year from $370 million in 2009.

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