Worried that your social networking initiative won't resonate with the company's mature workforce? Afraid the over-55 set won't dig video chat? Well stop fretting. According to a study by Forrester Research, on-the-job use of social networking tools is growing among workers between the ages of 29 to 49 while interest is waning among Gen-Y'ers aged 15 to 28. And don't look now, but baby boomers over the age of 55 are most likely to use social tools in the workplace.

The study is good news for IT professionals, charged with finding economical ways to boost communication and productivity across the enterprise. The data suggests that experienced employees won't hinder the adoption of collaborative or social tools; in fact they may lead the way. Here's a summary of the key information as reported by Computerworld.

"The report, which was based on an international online survey of 797 information workers last month, showed that 40 percent of Gen Y workers who use social media for business do so daily. That's compared to 50 percent of workers who are 55 and older. And those 55-and-over boomers have increased their business use of social media by 79 percent in the past year.

The study also noted that the use of collaborative tools is on the rise. The use of video chat is up 56 percent from last year, while the use of team document-sharing sites is up 55 percent and webconferencing is up 52 percent.

-- Leslie Stevens-Huffman