Socialtext CEO taps social network for new CEO

Now that's transparency.

Ross Mayfield, CEO and co-founder of collaboration software company Socialtext, on Thursday used his blog and the social-networking site LinkedIn to find a replacement--for his own job.

"It is time for Socialtext to be taken to the next level, and for that, I want to openly recruit the CEO 2.0 for Socialtext," Mayfield wrote in his blog and apparently to his LinkedIn contacts.

Socialtext, one of several Web 2.0 business software companies, makes wiki-based collaboration software. And clearly Mayfield wants to use social-networking tools even for even big decisions like finding a new CEO.

He said he intends to take on the job of president and chairman to focus on company strategy and culture and to work with customers.

So has it worked?

Well, half a day later, Socialtext still has the same old CEO (so much for "Internet speed"). But if Mayfield's current Twitter is any indication, his ploy seems to be working: "Boy, suddenly I've got a lot of email."