In June 2009, I posted a blog entry that introduced the Collaboration Funnel model for how people with potential ties in a network can find one another to form a community in which members have casual ties and shared interests. This enables people to establish stronger relationships through shared objectives pursued by a team - this is the process of working down the funnel. The reverse can also happen: someone on a team may interact with someone on a different team due to shared interests that may be related to their respective teams' shared objectives. Individually, they maintain profiles on a network, so someone else may find them to ask a question, propose an idea, or engage in some other form of dialogue.
So, what are practical examples of the Collaboration Funnel in action? One that's near and dear to my heart is the Boy Scouts. Scouting provides effective youth training in character, citizenship, and mental and personal fitness. My son recently "graduated" from the Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. His Boy Scout troop consists of several patrols, each analogous to a team in the Collaboration Funnel model. These teams have shared objectives in earning merit badges and other activities, for which they must collaborate in order to accomplish. Each patrol typically has its own email distribution list (commonly provided by Google Groups or Yahoo Groups), as well as weekly in-person meetings that facilitate frequent communication and collaboration. Each troop typically brings together all of the patrols on a bi-weekly or monthly basis to discuss inter-troop issues, share upcoming events, and celebrate significant milestones and awards. From the perspective of the Collaboration Funnel, I consider the troop simply as a larger team that consists of patrol-based sub-teams.
The troops within a geographic area of up to several counties are part of a district council. For instance, the state of Washington has seven councils. Each council is analogous to a community in the Collaboration Funnel model; there are shared interests amongst the troops within a council, but there are far fewer shared objectives or strong ties. The council communicates with the troops a few times a month and engages them several times a year through district-wide events like camporees. The troops leverage the council as a way to share best practices and maintain consistency of services and expectations. Many corporations have Communities of Practice for the same reasons that the Boy Scouts have councils.
The councils in the United States make up the national organization called Boy Scouts of America, which is a constituent of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. Each national organization is analogous to a network in the Collaboration Funnel model. That is, each scout has only a loose affiliation with his respective national scouting organization. Most scouts rarely encounter other scouts outside of their councils, but of course, social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter have enabled scouts from disparate locations around the world, who maintain an online persona through sharing photos on Facebook or status updates on Twitter, to find and connect with one another with ease. Online community technologies such as forums have broadened the sense and spirit of community beyond the geographic confines of district councils. Nevertheless, the groupings of scouts in local patrols/troops, district councils, and national organizations map well to the teams, communities, and networks in the Collaboration Funnel model in terms of their respective attributes as follows:
The Boy Scouts of America organization is celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year, and throughout the years, more than 110 million Americans have been proud members. So, why can't more corporations be like the Boy Scouts? One possible answer is that most organizations have focused solely on teams - empowering them with technology and autonomy - rather than communities that can nurture casual ties between people with shared interests or networks that can strengthen potential ties based on personal interests.
Much has been written and said about "information overload" during the past several years. Noted technologist and author, Clay Shirky, gave a widely referenced talk about it at the Web 2.0 Expo conference a year ago. He posited that information overload is actually filter failure. I wholeheartedly agree. However, I believe that the crux of the issue is the lack of context.
As the amount of digital content continues to grow, the need for context – in the form of metadata, profiles, and relationships – becomes ever more important. Popular tech pundit Robert Scoble provides a hint of this need for context in his recent blog entry. He uses the analogy of atoms vs. molecules to describe the differences in terms of useful value between individual content items (e.g. tweets, photos, videos) and groupings of related content (e.g. tweets related to Haiti, photos from several people who attended a party).
A simpler example of context is the title of this blog entry. The phrases "rather than content" and "part 1 of several" provide context for the topic of "context is king." The reader doesn’t need to go beyond the title in order to have a fairly good idea what the blog entry is about.
So, how is context manifested and leveraged in online community software? Ideally, every content item should be displayed with contextual information that helps the reader quickly assess the relevant value of the content. Shown below is an actual content item from the Telligent Developer Space community forums. Notice the context that is provided:
But it’s not enough just to show context, additional context specific to the user should be subtly prompted and readily captured without the user having to figure out how to provide it. In the same screenshot below, notice the "This is a suggested answer" and "Rate this" and "Favorite this thread" options. These options capture additional context for the content item, which in turn provides added value to subsequent users.
![clip_image001[1]](http://communityzenmaster.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/lliu.metablogapi/6740.clip_5F00_image0011_5F00_7E4E70EF.jpg "clip_image001[1]")
Another example of the usefulness of context is in the QuickPost widget provided in Telligent Community 5.5 and Telligent Enterprise 2.5. Shown below is a screenshot of the widget from Telligent’s intranet. The widget defaults to capturing a status message from the user, but context is provided for other types of content that the user can post.
![clip_image002[1]](http://communityzenmaster.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/lliu.metablogapi/3617.clip_5F00_image0021_5F00_4AA60491.jpg "clip_image002[1]")
When "Write a Blog" is clicked, the widget contextually detects the blog(s) that I own and changes the fields to capture the appropriate information for a blog entry
![clip_image003[1]](http://communityzenmaster.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/lliu.metablogapi/8585.clip_5F00_image0031_5F00_709BB4E7.jpg "clip_image003[1]")
When "Start a Discussion" is clicked, the widget contextually detects the forums that I have favorited or previously posted to, and changes the fields to capture the appropriate information for a forum post.
![clip_image004[1]](http://communityzenmaster.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/lliu.metablogapi/7024.clip_5F00_image0041_5F00_76765880.jpg "clip_image004[1]")
The "Share a File" and "Publish to Wiki" options provide similar functionality in a contextual manner. I will provide additional examples of contextual usability in future blog entries. My belief is that the ultimate power of community and collaboration software lies in its ability to easily capture and effectively leverage context so that information can be filtered, ranked, curated, correlated, and found much more readily than it is today.
In Part 2 of my “Elements of a Vibrant Online Community” series, I presented the people-oriented factors of audience segments and user types as critical components of a successful online community strategy. In this blog entry, I will provide practical examples of these two factors.
For audience segments, consider the pyramid model (below) that is frequently used for marketing campaigns and evangelism initiatives. The levels in the pyramid are mutually exclusive, and in general, there are far fewer people near the top of the pyramid than those near the bottom. The benefit of utilizing this segmentation model is that you can design different engagement programs and allocate appropriate resources to each segment. For instance, you would probably allocate more senior/executive level interactions with Advisory Councils (ACs), Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs), or other elite customers and partners, compared with other segments lower on the pyramid. Moreover, your goal for this top audience segment might be to achieve and maintain a shared vision for business problem(s), whereas your goals for other segments are much less tightly connected. Before you attempt to develop your own model for audience segments within your community, check with your marketing team because it’s very likely that they already have a model, which you can reuse or refine.
For user types, consider the ladder model known as Forrester Social Technographics (below). This model was originally introduced in April 2007 and recently updated with the addition of the Conversationalist profile. This model and its user type profiles are very similar to those of the Telligent Analytics user types (also shown below), which I had blogged about previously. In both models, the profiles may overlap – that is, a user can be categorized as a Connector as well as an Answerer. To achieve and sustain vibrancy in different types of communities, different combinations of user types are required. For instance, a product review community (like http://epinions.com) would tend to have a much higher percentage of Critics (in Forrester’s model) or Commenters (in Telligent’s model). In contrast, a product support community (like http://windowslivehelp.com) would tend to have a higher percentage of Creators (Forrester’s model) or Askers and Answerers (Telligent’s model). Telligent is currently working on assessing the benchmarks of user type ratios/percentages for vibrancy in different types of communities, and I look forward to presenting and discussing our findings in the future.
Of course, the key differentiator for the Telligent Analytics model is that user types are analyzed and derived easily based on data from Telligent Community or Telligent Enterprise.
In Part 1, I presented content- and interaction-oriented factors (triggers, catalysts, lubricants, flows, and containers) as critical elements of a vibrant online community. In this blog entry, I’ll address the people-oriented factors of audience segments and user types.
An audience is the collection of people, whom you want to attract to your online community. Marketers usually segment the “total addressable audience” into smaller subsets of people, who share common demographics or other tangible attributes. Every online community should do the same because as the saying goes, “You can’t please all the people all of the time.” So, you must prioritize and target your efforts toward people, who will most directly or indirectly impact the vibrancy of the community. The segmentation may be done along multiple axes: business size, industry, professional discipline, capability area, influence, etc. This segmentation process can be tricky, which is why I’d recommend an iterative approach that’s done on a 3-6 month cycle. Don’t overanalyze! Start simple with just 1-2 segmentation axes and go from there. Even if you end up with just a handful of “high impact potential” people after the first pass, it’s better to start engaging them than to wait until you have the “right number” of people in an audience segment because that number will likely vary widely based on many factors, some of which are yet unknown to you. Therefore, the sooner you engage, the sooner you can get feedback and gain experience to refine your segmentation process.
Once you’ve established an ongoing interaction model (e.g. weekly concalls, discussion forum) with the core group of “high impact potential” people for your online community, you must start assessing their respective user types because it’s best to have a mixture of people, who can collectively do the following tasks, all of which are essential in achieving a vibrant online community:
With the exception of the last bullet, all of these user actions are supported by Telligent Community and Telligent Enterprise and can be measured by Telligent Analytics, which formalizes user types into the following 7 classes.
For more information on user types in Telligent Analytics, go to the product documentation.
[Cross-posted from the Telligent.com Team Blog.]
I often get asked, “What makes a vibrant online community?” The facetious answer would be, “Passionate people and interesting content.” A more practical answer is, “A vibrant online community consists of a dynamic balance of different people with content and interactions that are most meaningful to them.” In this blog entry, I’ll address the content- and interaction-oriented factors (triggers, catalysts, lubricants, flows, and containers), and in my next entry, I’ll address the people-oriented factors.
The two most important types of content that drive vibrancy within a community are what I call “triggers” and “catalysts.”
The two most important factors that affect interactions within a community are “lubricants” and “flows.”
Lastly, containers can improve the vibrancy of an online community by providing a specific boundary around the content, people, and/or interactions. The boundary can be transparent (i.e. a “joinless” group), porous (i.e. public open or public moderated group), opaque (i.e. private listed group), or completely hidden (i.e. private unlisted). Containers can also affect the flow of content based on the following analogy: rivers (e.g. team blog or forum), creeks (e.g. group level activity stream), lakes (e.g. large wiki), and ponds (e.g. small wiki). So, in order to achieve or maintain vibrancy within a community, you need to consider not only what kinds of fish (triggers and catalysts) to cultivate and how people will fish (lubricants and flows), but also where they would prefer to fish (containers).
Recently, I’ve helped a growing number of customers develop what they’re calling a corporate community strategy. While their goals vary to some degree, the desire to grow or improve “community spirit” is a constant, and they all want their strategy to encompass both external and internal efforts and in online as well as offline environments. These organizations recognize that it is community that binds teams (whose members are strongly connected) with networks (whose members are only casually or potentially connected), which enables information to be shared more relevantly and questions to be answered more quickly, leading to faster and better deliverables by the team through a phenomenon that I’ve coined as the Collaboration Funnel.
However, many of these organizations struggle to come up with a comprehensive strategy – mainly because they have had so many disparate community-oriented initiatives in the past. While there isn’t a single formula for success, the default approach that I recommend is to identify and leverage a solid foundation in terms of an existing strategy, rather than trying to come up with a new one which tends to become yet another silo. Most organizations already have a well-established Corporate Communications Strategy, though it’s typically focused around public relations. Well, I’d say that it’s about time for every corporate communications strategy to include customer relations, partner relations, and employee relations rather than just press and analyst relations! Such corporate communications strategy must also be expanded to include new social media channels such as blogs, forums, and Twitter in addition to traditional channels such as email and press releases.
Separately, many organizations have developed a Corporate Community Strategy, but it’s usually focused on geographic or local offline communities. I believe that every corporate community strategy ought to include online environments as well as internal interests. A corporate community strategy should be inclusive and expansive rather than exclusionary and narrowly focused.
The key advantage of building on an existing corporate communications strategy or corporate community strategy is that it forces marketing and HR departments to align their respective goals and objectives for community development, which will likely result in other departments doing the same. Moreover, how organizations communicate with their customers, partners, and employees is gradually converging with the way these organizations are striving to build vibrant communities around their products and services.
So, what organizations have been exceptionally successful at evolving and converging their corporate communications and corporate community strategies? SolarWinds, whose corporate community efforts are spearheaded by Dawn Lacallade, is a Telligent customer that I’ve frequently highlighted. Dawn and I will be jointly presenting a webinar next month about how to derive measurable business value from implementing a holistic corporate community strategy, so look for an announcement soon, and I hope that you’ll be able to join us.
Texas Instruments is another relevant Telligent customer reference, for which our founder and CTO, Rob Howard, will present a case study on December 16 at the Word of Mouth Supergenius conference – there’s still time to register if you hurry!
Usenet is a conversational social cyberspace in particular and a computer-mediated collective action system in general.
I hereby propose that since the dawning of the Web in the early 1990s, a broad spectrum of tools and use cases have emerged to support various types and levels of computer mediated collective action. I’ve made references to this spectrum in a couple of previous blog entries:
And here’s the visual representation of the spectrum that consists of 3 distinct segments (networks, communities, and teams) and the respective strengths of “interpersonal ties” that keep together the members of each segment: 
The segments have the following attributes:
And the following software applications (not an exhaustive list!):
The importance of my proposed model for collective action is its relevance to the neverending desire of people and businesses to collaborate because it is mostly through the act and process of collaboration, as defined in my previous blog entry, that significant decisions are made and tasks get done. Although collaboration can occur between 2 or more people in any of the segments of the spectrum, my assertion is that collaborative efforts are optimized as the decreasing number of members and the increasing tie strength amongst those members approach that of a typical team. This is what I call the “Collaboration Funnel” as depicted in the diagram above.
The value of thinking about collective action as a continuum of 3 segments is my thesis based primarily on my experience with Microsoft SharePoint’s worldwide ecosystem, the greater likelihood that communities will grow, and the more vibrant a community, the greater likelihood that teams will form. Hence, the less friction there is in both the software used by and the organizational structures/processes governing the people transitioning from 1 segment to another, the easier it will be for teams to form, communities to grow, and networks to expand. From a software perspective, the friction between the segments can be minimized either with a common technology platform or with seamless integration between the respective platforms used in each segment. For instance, if you are relying on SharePoint for teams, Telligent for communities, and Facebook for networks, then you should endeavor to implement as seamlessly as you can the integration between those platforms. And I just happen to have excellent examples of such seamless integration :-)
Another major benefit of this model for collective action is that it reveals the need for either a common analytics tool or a set of seamlessly integrated analytics tools that can span all 3 segments. Measurement and reporting via an analytics tool are necessary because much of the activities are emergent rather than structured even in the most tight knit of teams, so any rigid structures or processes would would increase friction. Therefore, you must measure, report, and analyze the activities quickly and iteratively in order to make informed decisions about what to do next. Moreover, analytics will ultimately enable the most relevant content to be targeted at specific users (based on previous activities in any of the 3 segments) thereby making information discovery and contextual awareness much more efficient. And this is indeed one of the primary objectives for Telligent’s ongoing R&D investment in analytics for the entire spectrum of computer mediated collective action.
But what exactly is collaboration?
Well, Wikipedia defines collaboration as “a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together [“at” or “with” must be the missing word here] intersection of common goals.” [I guess even the epitome of collaborative applications that is Wikipedia still cannot prevent typos or omissions from occurring. :-)]
Although I'd certainly agree with the above definition, I also like the following description of collaboration as referenced in the “Collaboration thread in CACM for April 2008” blog entry by Jack Vinson:
Collaboration generally means working together synergistically. If your work requires support and agreement of others before you can take action, you are collaborating.
Jack’s blog entry also referenced the “Collaboration and Community” paper, which had been published by Scott London way back in 1995 and provides the most streamlined definition of collaboration:
As its Latin roots com and laborare suggest, collaboration reduced to its simplest definition means “to work together.”
While Scott’s paper had focused on collaboration in the political and civic arenas, I believe that the basic characteristics of collaborative endeavors described therein and quoted below apply just as well to any other arena that involves people working together:
Scott’s paper goes on to differentiate collaboration versus other models of cooperation:
Collaboration, then, involves articulating a shared purpose and direction and working toward joint decisions. This distinguishes it from other forms of cooperation which may involve common interests but are not based on a collectively articulated goal or vision. Ann Austin and Roger Baldwin note that while there are obvious similarities between cooperation and collaboration, the former involves preestablished interests while the latter involves collectively defined goals.
Upon reading that, I was compelled to post the following tweet:
Social/Networking: shared narcissism Community: shared interest Collaboration/Teamwork: shared objective deets: http://bit.ly/15pbyG
Then of special importance are the principles of collaboration as suggested and referenced in Scott's paper:
What are the preconditions for effective collaboration? Most observers agree that it must be democratic and inclusive; that is, it must be free of hierarchies of any kind and it must include all parties who have a stake in the problem. As Cornelia Butler Flora et al. point out, "without community empowerment and broad participation in agenda setting, the ... decision-making process of discussion, debate, and compromise is relatively meaningless."
Barbara Gray observes that collaboration can only be meaningful if the stakeholders are interdependent. "Collaboration establishes a give and take among the stakeholders that is designed to produce solutions that none of them working independently could achieve." In this way, they all depend on each other to produce mutually beneficial solutions.
The remainder of Scott’s paper discusses the dynamics and limitations of collaboration, collaborative leadership, and collaborative communities, all of which are well worth reading. Scott also published a companion paper titled “Collaboration in Action” that provides a survey of over a dozen best practice examples of collaborative efforts in the government and civic arenas, which every enthusiast or perpetuator of the current “Government 2.0” meme would find enlightening, and those examples would apply equally well to other arenas such as “Enterprise 2.0” in particular.
So, there you have it – exactly what collaboration is and a whole lot more. Any questions?
A couple of days ago, I posted the following tweet:
Then I came across the “What Will Social Networking Displace?” blog entry by @lauriemccabe, which triggered another tweet from me:
I felt so strongly about it that I posted two more tweets:
And then I saw the following blog entries, all of which attempt to differentiate the challenges and impact of social computing on the Web against those of collaborative computing within the enterprise.
Although these guys made some very valid points, and I have the utmost respect for their perspectives, I believe that they missed the biggest issue of all in terms of the primary challenge for successful Enterprise 2.0 implementations, which is succinctly described in the following blog entry:
Essentially, the primary challenge comes down to people, and there are 4 types involved in any given Enterprise 2.0 project:
Hence, and I quote: “The secret to sniffing out a rotten enterprise software implementation is recognizing these groups and identifying how well their interests are aligned. In successful implementations, all the key players have complimentary goals and objectives. In failed implementations, these groups are working at cross-purposes, if not actively trying to sabotage each other.”
I could end this blog entry right here, but I haven’t addressed the subject itself – that is, why I believe that finding new roles for middle management is a key success factor for Enterprise 2.0. While management in the most generic sense is “simply the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals,” middle management “is a layer of management in an organization whose primary job responsibility is to monitor activities of subordinates while reporting to upper management.” And just like how social media and other Web 2.0 technologies have enabled Lance Armstrong to bypass the middle management (e.g. PR firms, talent management agencies, news makers) that has stood between him and the general public, Enterprise 2.0 technologies enable people who are doing the “real” work within organizations to bypass their middle management and connect and collaborate with each other directly as well as update and engage upper management directly. By cutting out middle management, the savings are not only in the salaries of those individuals but also in the time and energy expended by their subordinates and upper management to interact with them. Yes, middle management is the tangible overhead in many organizations that Enterprise 2.0 can eliminate!
Of course, no one likes losing their jobs. Without a preemptive plan to find new roles for middle management personnel who will ultimately be displaced, they will undoubtedly do everything they can to jeopardize the success of the project because self-preservation is a powerful human instinct that’s driven by pain and fear. Similar to ERP and CRM projects in the past, Enterprise 2.0 projects have as much, if not a lot more, impact on an organization’s personnel, especially those in middle management. Hence, every Enterprise 2.0 project should include “finding new roles for middle management” as a key success factor.
[Update: I received some feedback from Christian Buckley via Facebook:
Great post, but I have one issue with your conclusion -- that the primary role of middle management is doing nothing more than pushing paper, chasing status reports. If managers provide no value, then yes, cuts should be made. But what is often lost is the human factor -- large, flat organizations (look at Google, for example) have notoriously poor employee sat numbers, because there is very little manager-to-direct interaction. On the contrary, the best-performing and, arguably, happiest teams are the ones where there are strong manager/employee relationships. Can one Director do that with 30 reports? Nope. But can it be done with a robust collaboration platform? Still nope.
To which I replied:
Thx for the feedback. I was referring to the middle management "overhead" in most large organizations where managers have fewer than 7 to 8 direct reports. The "magic number" of DRs may differ in different organizations, but I do agree with you that having 30 DRs is not healthy or sustainable. Nevertheless, I still believe that Enterprise 2.0 technologies can reduce the need for traditional middle management roles, so managers can spend less time managing and more time coaching, leading, and contributing.
]
[Update 2: Just saw this insightful blog entry by Trevor Gay, which makes the point that "the manager is dead - long live the coach" and partially affirms my thesis about how middle management must evolve beyond just managing. I quote the relevant excerpts below:
Nowadays the subordinate person who was previously ‘managed’ by their boss is in possession of as much information as the boss - thanks to the internet. The implications for managers are simple and obvious. If the manager is to retain that ‘higher place’ in the pecking order he/she will need to illustrate what is the added value he/she brings. And ‘many years in the job’ is not the right answer.
I advocate embracing the new challenge and see your role as a coach of talent. The manager with experience and qualifications should be in a position to impart that knowledge and encourage the people in the team. I see less hierarchy and more teamwork where the coach has the job of keeping all the team members happy, fulfilled, motivated, stretched and enthusiastic. This will require development of new and existing skills. The alternative is to watch frontline employees take your space in the organisational chart.
Peter Drucker said “90% of what we call ‘management’ consists of making it difficult for people to get things done.” In the new world of management I see frontline employees being in control of their own workload and calling upon the coach for advice when they need it. Customer expectations are increasing because the customer is more informed. Frontline workers must be at least one step ahead of the customer in order to meet that expectation. The customer of the future will be more demanding. To be left waiting for an answer while the frontliner goes through various layers of management to solve simple problems will not be acceptable.
We have to find ways of ‘letting go’ of the perceived power managers currently have. The best way to gain power is to let go of power. Frontline employees are more than capable of creating their own working practices and project teams with the ‘support’ of the coach rather than the ‘direction’ of a manager.
And here's a related blog entry by Domenic Certa about how to go from being just a "good" coach to an "amazing" coach.
]
The social (i.e. purely person-to-person) connections that have been popularized by networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are as follows:
However, there are other connections between people (albeit less direct) that can be more relevant in certain situations:
In addition, as Jyri Engeström pointed out 4+ years ago in his “Why some social network services work and others don't” post and then followed up in his “What makes a good social object” post about 2 years ago, there are many types of person-to-object connections that may be worthwhile to track. A couple of examples are:
As more and more companies in the Web 2.0 era attempt to “learn and profit from online friendships,” it’s becoming strategically important for businesses as well as people to understand the nature of these connections – how they form, when they change, and how they grow. [Warning: Self-serving verbiage follows!] Telligent (my current employer), with primary research spearheaded by our Chief Social Officer (Dr. Marc Smith) and agile development by our Harvest product team, has invested significantly during the past 2+ years in this problem/opportunity space and will continue to do so. I am extremely about the ongoing R&D that we’re doing in collaboration with key customers, partners, and researchers in both industry and academia.
Wordle cloud link.
Wordle clouds for my previous months’ tweetstreams:
Enjoy...
| Sun May 31 18:50:15 | IMHO, Holy Trinity = Father+Child(ren)+Mother. & Holy "Spirit" is what parents can create & impart on their kids vs rely/wait on "Mystery." |
| Sat May 30 17:00:37 | Discovery & Ambient Awareness: Tools, Techniques, Processes http://bit.ly/A52wR (by @mwalsh) [Gr8 pts but IMHO: goal = Contextual Awareness] |
| Sat May 30 00:25:37 | Games: Another reason why Twitter needs filters http://bit.ly/ShFV3 (by @eldon) [Yup, like I said in my prev tweet: http://bit.ly/80pK3] |
| Sat May 30 00:19:54 | #Spymaster: Twitter Game That Will Assassinate Your Time http://bit.ly/iuAPo [Twitter srsly needs a "block this #hashtag" feature!] |
| Sat May 30 00:14:15 | Wow! MS HealthVault private community sites for consumers (http://bit.ly/TfqcZ) & partners (http://bit.ly/wDVF3) - powered by Telligent! |
| Fri May 29 23:38:09 | "Pay w/ Facebook" Is In The Wild http://bit.ly/udrfO (by @Parislemon) [Socnet/community becomes marketplace/currency w/ FB taking a "vig"!] |
| Fri May 29 22:09:29 | Without measurement, intranets languish http://bit.ly/KMroi (Yup, just like what I said: http://bit.ly/va46i & http://bit.ly/5xfyQ) |
| Fri May 29 21:30:43 | Time for $MSFT to Face Reality abt Search/Internet http://bit.ly/vKkxf (by @hblodget) [Huh? It's huge future $$$, so they must keep at it.] |
| Fri May 29 21:14:44 | Bing Will Change Face of Search http://bit.ly/73ZYW (via @MarkAPatten) [Gr8 pts re impact 2 SEO. Quality content & microformats will b key!] |
| Fri May 29 20:34:19 | "When I was young, I could remember anything, whether happened or not. As I got older, I'd remember only things that didn't happen." -MT :-) |
| Fri May 29 19:57:12 | MS Bing "decision engine" is not Google killer http://bit.ly/IrWjF (by @charleneli) [Don't need 2kill current enemy 2win next battle! :-)] |
| Fri May 29 19:36:20 | If u want accurate B2B profiling based on actual activities & interactions, then implement an online community w/ deep/rich analytics. :-) |
| Fri May 29 19:33:22 | Forrester B2B Social Technographics Profile [Guestimate] Tool (http://bit.ly/EpzmT) based on research (http://bit.ly/jDcKJ). See nxt tweet! |
| Fri May 29 17:00:41 | You Can't Build a Business Case for Social Software http://bit.ly/La4ds [Need to append "Unless You Can Define&Justify the Apps" to title!] |
| Fri May 29 16:27:07 | "content is king" -> "audience as kingdom" http://bit.ly/47e1LC [Duh! Plus "community as village" & "castle(s) for MVP/VIPs" :-)] |
| Fri May 29 16:20:52 | How Ford made me reconsider my auto buying habits http://bit.ly/jZYkt (by @patrickbyers) [Gr8 read! NOT "sponsored convo" from what I see.] |
| Fri May 29 00:20:06 | Microsoft @bing = http://decisionengine.com = better than just search engine (a.k.a. Google) [Finally! It's actually starting 2make sense!] |
| Fri May 29 00:10:53 | Next Disruptive Layer On Internet Stack http://bit.ly/2fxBc (by @georgedearing per @fredwilson) [Agreed: Aggregation+Filtering+Ranking=NBT!] |
| Fri May 29 00:03:06 | But don't focus just on Customer Svc http://bit.ly/4EHuk [Must think/plan/implement/grow/measure your online community holistically!] |
| Thu May 28 23:59:26 | Customer service is the new mktg http://bit.ly/h0gXr (by @mattrhodes) [Not new - see Nordstrom. Just finally caught up in *online* space!] |
| Thu May 28 23:53:28 | More BizNet Design Principles: Multidisciplinary (x-org&func), Motivational (intuitive value&rewards), Integrated (not silo'd), Extensible. |
| Thu May 28 23:30:32 | BizNet Design Principles: Social, Collaborative, Distributed, Iterative. [Yes! Affirms my "Social != Everything" post: http://bit.ly/xP8WV] |
| Thu May 28 23:06:04 | Gazing into the Twitterverse: a map of Twitter apps http://bit.ly/ogwkT (by @briansolis) [Amazing what a svc w/ simple open API can beget!] |
| Thu May 28 18:00:55 | Several must-read Dell presos abt social media strategy&use @SlideShare: http://bit.ly/QQgJy [V-honored to have them as Telligent customer!] |
| Thu May 28 17:31:23 | Google Wave http://bit.ly/XEezj (via @arislemon & @timoreilly) [Next.Killer.App! Integrating best of forums/wikis/IM into unified web tool!] |
| Thu May 28 17:30:53 | The @ArthurKadeInc Project http://bit.ly/13Bnwq [Oh hell, this cat is for real?! Well, at least he's much more entertaining than @1938media] |
| Thu May 28 17:04:31 | Social Intelligence & Biology of Leadership http://bit.ly/ACRsL [IMHO, why whom u follow on Twitter matters much more than who follows u.] |
| Thu May 28 17:00:58 | #E20 Isn't a Checklist http://bit.ly/ltqVO (by @rotkapchen) [V-insightful frm biz perspective. But there needs 2b checklist at some pt. :-)] |
| Thu May 28 17:00:45 | Social Media ROI Calculator http://bit.ly/GGT40 (by @oxclove via @PaulDunay @BrandAide) [Looks reasonable 2me but need 2see validation.] |
| Thu May 28 16:55:26 | Knowledge Management #E20 Style -in 3 Parts http://bit.ly/tjznE (by @frankx) [Spot on re: what & why but not enuf details on how & metrics.] |
| Thu May 28 16:44:48 | Coming up: (social) renaissance for Business Intelligence http://bit.ly/YBAku (by @oscarberg) [Spot on! I'll blog my thoughts abt it soon!] |
| Thu May 28 01:26:10 | Only vision of future Web I currently believe in is by @novaspivack - http://bit.ly/DK7Kf & http://bit.ly/XCLNM - all else is hype, IMHO. |
| Thu May 28 01:21:47 | @ConversationAge @GeorgeDearing No, Web 3.0 is what ppl say when they don't understand full extent of Web 2.0. See http://bit.ly/DK7Kf |
| Thu May 28 00:11:15 | 8 Competencies of Community Maturity Model http://bit.ly/Pi1cD (by @rhappe) [Best of L200 presos I've seen tho orgs r hungry for L300 info.] |
| Wed May 27 23:17:43 | Good assessment of Microsoft/Telligent/speakTECH "Social Enterprise Alliance" http://bit.ly/fGA3n (by RedmondMag via @affiliategenius) |
| Wed May 27 21:01:29 | Fallacy of "Don't Be Stupid" SM Policy http://sn.im/iw8kf (via @cindyalvarez) [Agreed - cuz "be smart (w/ purpose)" != "don't be stupid"] |
| Wed May 27 20:24:53 | Building Your Brand Ambassador Program http://bit.ly/rZ18C (by @chris_bailey) [Must watch 4orgs thinking abt wasting $ on Sponsored Convos.] |
| Wed May 27 20:13:53 | Dear brands: What kind of relationship r u ready for? http://bit.ly/RxIYW (by @iamseanmcdonald) [Ambassadorship FTW! Sponsored Convos suck!] |
| Wed May 27 18:50:02 | Return On Investment in Interaction (ROII) http://bit.ly/xcvtk (by @jonhusband) [Network type/size metrics not enuf. Also need user types!] |
| Wed May 27 17:11:38 | Future is ChicagoNow http://bit.ly/66pg8 (by @pottsmark) [Only if it becomes full community vs just blogs. C: http://atlinsider.atlanta.net] |
| Wed May 27 16:55:33 | Best, Worst & Future Email List-Growth Tactics "Mobile Capture, SocNet Sharing Rising Quickly" http://bit.ly/58czP [Key: Community! :-)] |
| Wed May 27 16:52:21 | @johnstack @GeorgeDearing Consumers want 2b more social while workers want 2b more collaborative. Convergence will come: http://bit.ly/xP8WV |
| Wed May 27 16:48:04 | @johnstack @GeorgeDearing IMHO, "Social Computing++" enabled by Web 2.0 while "Collaborative Computing++" enabled by #E20. Similar but diff. |
| Wed May 27 16:45:02 | What Is NPV Of Social Networking? http://bit.ly/1ub0Tb (by @jderagon) [Wrong approach cuz no diff from email, phonecalls, T&E w/ customers!] |
| Wed May 27 16:38:14 | Customer satisfaction still matters more than discounts http://tinyurl.com/ra92bd (via @MSretail) [Why community support/engagement is key!] |
| Wed May 27 16:28:03 | Prime eg of integrated mktg/community site that Microsoft/Telligent/SpeakTech alliance http://bit.ly/6Akyi can deliver: http://bit.ly/QMDia |
| Wed May 27 16:19:19 | Microsoft Announces Social Enterprise Alliance w/ @Telligent & @speakTECH for "best-of-all-worlds customer communities" http://bit.ly/6Akyi |
| Wed May 27 16:12:45 | "To be successful, mktrs must utilize variety of channels 2create meaningful dialogue." http://bit.ly/ZOX70 (by @MariaBailey) [Agreed 110%] |
| Tue May 26 20:47:37 | 9 worst social media FAILs of 2009 http://bit.ly/622Dx (by @mediaphyter) [Whopper Sacrifice was FAIL for Facebook more so than Burger King!] |
| Tue May 26 19:02:37 | @Bob_Thompson For lack of better term, I'm using "modern business life cycle" & #E20 as memes 4what orgs need 2do/2become in Web 2.0 era. |
| Tue May 26 19:00:27 | @Bob_Thompson Not sure what right/best term is (yet), but I don't believe "social" is it based on my convos w/ many (big & small) orgs. |
| Tue May 26 17:15:06 | Groundswell of Social Media Backlash http://bit.ly/vvutJ (by @olivermarks) [Tools will get abused. Hammers can kill vs just for nails. :-)] |
| Tue May 26 17:00:04 | Online Brand Hijacking Worries 29.5% of Mkters http://bit.ly/qoTNz [Why brands must invest++ in online communities/ambassadors/advocates!] |
| Tue May 26 16:58:02 | Amused w/ recent social media backlash (http://bit.ly/129aR3). I guess ppl realizing being social costs time esp w/ ever increasing noise. |
| Tue May 26 16:49:05 | Beware Social Media Mktg Myths http://bit.ly/eQmZm (by @genemarks via @amandachapel) [Agreed: http://bit.ly/xP8WV & http://bit.ly/14MsBx] |
| Tue May 26 16:27:24 | @bob_thompson Moreover, "social" much more impactful as mindset than tools. Hence, "social" prefix for biz & sw will be redundant in ~3 yrs. |
| Tue May 26 16:17:23 | @bob_thompson IMHO, settling on "social business" is the true wimp out cuz it's just 1 aspect of modern biz life cycle: http://bit.ly/xP8WV |
| Tue May 26 03:30:16 | California's total suckage in edu policy & schools (http://bit.ly/15aEMK) is a key reason why wife&I are hesitant 2move bk w/in nxt few yrs. |
| Tue May 26 00:40:18 | Gr8 time @ Snoqualmie Falls! Postcard http://twitpic.com/5yo5n - Photosynths http://bit.ly/QzJed http://bit.ly/hpWay http://bit.ly/taV2G |
| Sun May 24 18:29:58 | #3drunkwords Twitter demographics diversifying. :-) |
| Sun May 24 18:22:06 | http://twitpic.com/5v2o5 - All 3 kids swinging on their own. Not long ago, they couldn't even get on the thing. How fast they've grown! |
| Fri May 22 23:54:15 | SeaWorld commits brand suicide http://bit.ly/12tC7X (via @arrington) [Worth a self-RT cuz it just made my wkend! :-) Fake Authentic = FAIL] |
| Fri May 22 23:27:34 | Final thought ahead of long holiday wkend: Analytics = Key to transforming community into marketplace. Overview: http://bit.ly/1560mP |
| Fri May 22 22:03:34 | Is it me or do blog posts w/ >3 paragraphs seem just too long these days? Yeah, they really distract my continuous partial attention. :-) |
| Fri May 22 20:41:43 | Ingenious! http://bit.ly/XGo1 -mktg that helps ppl assess who their Real friends r! Like Whopper Sacrifice campaign: http://bit.ly/1418As |
| Fri May 22 19:42:03 | Do Friends Influence Purchases in Social Network? http://bit.ly/VTQ0N (via @RevzNexus) [V-enlightening. Must read! Why analytics r key++!] |
| Fri May 22 19:31:23 | In case ur wondering why I say "Real Authentic" - cuz there's "Fake Authentic" (a.k.a. "Sponsored"). Learn the diff at http://bit.ly/azKvy |
| Fri May 22 19:22:42 | How 2do mtkg at low cost w/ social media [via Real Authentic Convos & Interactions] http://bit.ly/AsXeQ (by @leeaase via @mattrhodes) |
| Fri May 22 19:06:25 | #followfriday #followreco @mattrhodes @cosmond @helentr @hollyseddon -all at FreshNetworks -providing gr8 tips abt social media & community. |
| Fri May 22 18:59:18 | Community champs, actives & trolls http://bit.ly/iSd5a (by @hollyseddon) [Gr8 tips but need analytics (http://bit.ly/QvsUB) 2ID user types.] |
| Fri May 22 18:51:29 | Alternative to Sponsored Convos: Having Authentic/Real Convos w/ influencers & so-called social media publishers. Free & more powerful!:-) |
| Fri May 22 18:39:55 | http://tweetingtoohard.com/top "where self-important tweets get the recognition they deserve" - LMAO hilarious! |
| Fri May 22 18:36:17 | @tedmurphy "100% of Fortune 500 on my side" - congrats! But doesn't mean they see it as strategic. I prefer 2b where puck is going. :-) |
| Fri May 22 18:29:19 | @tedmurphy "You need both" - no, orgs must focus on sustainable community strategy. Everything else is supplementary/optional/distraction. |
| Fri May 22 18:25:21 | @tedmurphy Achieving strategic objectives r never easy. :-) That's why tactical shortcuts ("cop-out" too harsh, sorry) like urs r tempting. |
| Fri May 22 18:05:45 | I'll say again: SEO & Sponsored Convos r tactical cop-outs. Use this audience model (http://bit.ly/GWhbB) 2make strategic mktg investments. |
| Fri May 22 18:01:52 | @tedmurphy "search advertising a tactical cop out" - yup, IMHO, brands should strategically invest in "organic ranking" via SM/community. |
| Fri May 22 17:32:25 | 10 Ways Twitter Completely Changed Sales Proc http://bit.ly/lVqjt (by @pkitano) [No it's just a channel! Must integrate it w/ collab model.] |
| Fri May 22 17:27:43 | Modern Business Technology Ecosystem http://twitpic.com/5pays - complements these biz needs http://bit.ly/xP8WV - blog post coming soon! |
| Fri May 22 17:24:59 | 10 Ways CIOs Can [no, must] Communicate IT Business Value http://bit.ly/sRqvR [If any CIOs don't alrdy know/do these, they should be fired!] |
| Fri May 22 17:18:32 | IDC: Time 2Get Srs Abt #E20 http://bit.ly/OBkcD (via @oscarberg) Watch talkin head for 6.5 mins or just look at:http://twitpic.com/5pays :-) |
| Fri May 22 17:00:24 | Twitter Literacy http://bit.ly/ss50b (by @hrheingold) ["Successful use of Twitter comes down to tuning and feeding." - spot on!] |
| Fri May 22 16:57:01 | @tedmurphy Yes, mkters need 2do whatever it takes to boost their KPIs, but I'm calling out Sponsored Convos 4what they r:tactical cop-outs. |
| Fri May 22 16:44:29 | Twitter's Search Engine Is Very, Very Broken http://bit.ly/WOnrq (by @louisgray) [Agreed! Which is why I'm doing this: http://bit.ly/12Z9VT] |
| Fri May 22 16:40:19 | Anti-Starbucks filmmakers hijack coffee company's own Twitter mktg campaign http://tinyurl.com/pzp2zw (by @simonowens) [Lesson for brands!] |
| Fri May 22 16:30:24 | Sponsored Conversations http://bit.ly/CPxSw (by @tedmurphy via @chrisbrogan) [IMHO, SCs r cop-out 4not cultivating brand's own influencers.] |
| Fri May 22 01:31:49 | RT @HungerPledge: Thx @Telligent @lliu @georgedearing for helping the #HungerPledge - http://tr.im/trdlv [V-honored 2b part of this cause!] |
| Fri May 22 00:11:35 | ROI From Twitter: "Don't bother telling your CFO" http://tinyurl.com/r3txl8 [V-bad advice! Say it's like email/IM - key is in how u use it.] |
| Thu May 21 23:55:11 | Orgs don't need to worry about their Corporate Reputation (http://bit.ly/4wtph4) if they simply don't treat their employees like cattle. :-) |
| Thu May 21 23:30:32 | #TED Talk: Mary Roach on 10 things you didn't know about orgasm http://bit.ly/HE4C0 [Enlightening & entertaining for EOD leisure time.] |
| Thu May 21 23:24:17 | Managing Corporate Reputations http://bit.ly/4wtph4 (by @michelleconlin & @dmac1) [IMHO, ass bckwrds! How abt "Improving Org Health/Morale?] |
| Thu May 21 23:00:17 | #TED Talk: Brian Greene on string theory http://bit.ly/12Vk2o [Well, another thing that the LHC may discover: extra dimensions beyond 3-D.] |
| Thu May 21 19:54:17 | Why ppl still stuck on content creation issue (guidelines/policies/tools) when "puck" is movin towrd monitoring/targeting/filtering/ranking? |
| Thu May 21 19:36:59 | @lehawes @GeorgeDearing @jessewilkins U lead by doing. MLK & Ghandi: true leaders who acted out their thoughts. Only *then* did ppl follow. |
| Thu May 21 17:54:11 | @GeorgeDearing @davefleet Yes, "Be Smart" -but u can't do it unless u "Be Informed" & "Be Open & Respectful" -why analytics/metrics matter! |
| Thu May 21 17:31:52 | @georgedearing @JGoldsborough But most orgs do need guidelnes: IBM http://bit.ly/EVQq Intel http://bit.ly/Lc2G7 CIPR http://bit.ly/qIrw9 |
| Thu May 21 17:00:03 | How can B2B services/apps benefit from integrating w/ networking platforms? http://bit.ly/hJ9uQ (by @eldon) [Affirms http://bit.ly/14MsBx] |
| Thu May 21 16:30:10 | Not all millennials are millennials http://bit.ly/eFvcS (by @BillSheridan via @dahowlett) [IMHO most r, as r Boomers/GenXers. See #GenBlend] |
| Wed May 20 22:05:12 | http://grouptweet.com [Kinda like an email DL. Affirms power of Twitter as open platform. Yet another feature Twitter should have built-in!] |
| Wed May 20 21:56:58 | Experimental UI for large scale online discussion spaces by Srikanth Narayan http://bit.ly/11YP6S (via @marc_smith) [What FF, Twitter need!] |
| Wed May 20 21:35:52 | It Takes More than Social Software to Become an #E20 Company http://bit.ly/15FzsG (by @yurial) [Agreed 110%: http://bit.ly/xP8WV] |
| Wed May 20 21:31:52 | Hello, human: A Dialog With #WolframAlpha http://bit.ly/4Tevh (by @yurial) [Friggin brilliant!] |
| Wed May 20 18:44:54 | @georgedearing @CathyWebSavvyPR @hubspot Re: social media releases vs traditional PR http://bit.ly/32i1NS - not either/or, must do both! |
| Wed May 20 18:38:16 | Mktg Lessons From Worst Hotel In The World http://ow.ly/85eT (via @rohitbhargava) [Affirms that authenticity sells better than fakery.] |
| Wed May 20 18:34:49 | Carl Bialik (WSJ "Numbers Guy") on Numeracy in journalism (http://bit.ly/4mYQc) [How2 intelligently report stats/studies/surveys/forecasts.] |
| Wed May 20 18:28:03 | Popularity should never be confused w/ importance http://bit.ly/rKdHV [Filters/ranking help, but ultimately, u gotta decide for yourself!] |
| Wed May 20 18:16:00 | How @Ogilvy uses Twitter: Follow, Create, Engage http://bit.ly/Bf6rS [Gr8 tips as part of holistic community strategy: http://bit.ly/14MsBx] |
| Wed May 20 18:09:31 | IDC, EMC Total Up "Digital Universe" http://bit.ly/Yedzr [Jobs: Digital Astronomers/Cosmologists. Tools: Mining/Analytics/Filters/Ranking.] |
| Wed May 20 18:01:25 | It's Not Info Overload; It's Filter Failure http://bit.ly/14KX7w (by @CShirky) [Agreed. Why cxns & context r needed to filter & rank info!] |
| Wed May 20 17:53:57 | IMHO, #emailmarketing (http://ping.fm/FV1Nx by @StephanieSAM) needs to be revamped cuz socnets r now acting as filters. More thoughts soon! |
| Wed May 20 17:00:07 | Another of my fav shootout scenes: Alicia Keys (that's right) + Barrett 50 cal = still hot even tho she ain't shootin it: http://bit.ly/xvnt |
| Tue May 19 23:30:02 | #TED Talk: Benjamin Zander on music & passion http://bit.ly/tlu4B [Speechless. Just my shining eyes after this one. Gr8 way to end the day.] |
| Tue May 19 21:30:02 | #TED Talk: Evelyn Glennie shows how to listen http://bit.ly/19PhTr [Profound & inspiring. Don't just listen - go feel & experience! Wow!] |
| Tue May 19 20:46:46 | "Think abt what u can contribute, rather than what u can achieve." -Peter Drucker - ie, help others (colleagues/customers/partners) achieve! |
| Tue May 19 20:34:10 | Only 2 sources of Comp Adv: 1)Ability 2learn more abt customers faster than others, 2)Ability 2turn learning into action faster - Jack Welch |
| Tue May 19 19:13:10 | Comcast Boosts Customer Satisfaction by Tweeting http://bit.ly/hF150 [Expected result based on increased engagement. But not same as ROI.] |
| Tue May 19 18:31:57 | CMO Council: Rebirth of Personalization http://bit.ly/nus9S (via @thestrategyweb) [Why network analysis & engagement analytics matter++!] |
| Tue May 19 18:19:25 | Patrick Brandt joins Telligent as CEO; @robhoward now CTO http://bit.ly/1Eluo8 [V-excited 2have Rob focus on R&D while Patrick drives biz!] |
| Tue May 19 17:35:26 | Survey Results: Online Community Platform & Services Satisfaction: Telligent, Jive, Lithium, etc. http://bit.ly/1SGM7P (by @billjohnston) |
| Tue May 19 17:29:23 | Google Searches for Staffing Answers http://bit.ly/1TKx5 [From surveys? They should assess ppl on how they collaborate: http://bit.ly/5xfyQ] |
| Tue May 19 17:00:04 | Study: When person is happy, nearby friends have +25% chance happy too. Ppl at socnet center tend 2b happier in future. http://bit.ly/crQVp |
| Tue May 19 16:40:02 | Beatboxing Flute Sesame Street http://bit.ly/1a9bFA [Hear it to believe it! Then listen to Flight of the Bumblebee: http://bit.ly/iAxu6] |
| Tue May 19 16:30:03 | Julia Dales wins inaugural Beatbox Battle Online World Championship http://bit.ly/GoTji [Amazing what human voice can do! Close ur eyes.] |
| Mon May 18 21:21:16 | Laid-Off Employees Promote Change Via Old Biz Cards http://bit.ly/LRUAV [Huh? Want real change? Stop doodling & go *do* something *real*.] |
| Mon May 18 20:07:48 | Why Twitter Won't Change Marketing http://bit.ly/xLinD (by @willakerlof) [No, Web 2.0 is changing mrkting. Twitter just part of Web 2.0.] |
| Mon May 18 18:41:46 | 10 Tips for Building Brand Communities http://bit.ly/YoeVw (via @guykawasaki) [Gr8 pts except wrong attribution for http://90-9-1.com rule.] |
| Mon May 18 18:20:35 | @mattredlon @novaspivack Stream is an enabler, a means. Net Analytics needed to filter & rank *The* Stream to make it *My* Stream = end. |
| Mon May 18 18:13:27 | Survey: C-Level Execs Top Priorities 4next 12-18 months http://bit.ly/VP3Xn - customer acq/retention, improve mrkting ROI, products/svcs++. |
| Mon May 18 17:33:29 | Ppl hyping up "The Stream" (http://bit.ly/10jHnA - sorry @novaspivack) when real dope is Network Analytics: http://socialgraphsymposium.com |
| Mon May 18 17:00:09 | http://juvenation.org (via @boblaskey) -reminds me of http://nbcf.org & http://myAlli.com -all pwr'd by Telligent - #pharma socnets FTW! :-) |
| Sun May 17 21:45:59 | Sophia (7yo) finally free riding her bike! Just in time for summer. Joseph did it at 4yo. Isabel will probably do it around 6yo to keep up. |
| Sat May 16 23:32:02 | What I think makes a man? His eyes/attention. If I'm looking directly & intently at u, I'm ur man 4 as long as I do. :-) |
| Sat May 16 23:18:23 | Just stuck my foot in mouth by saying 2several filipinas, "A purse doesn't make a woman, her (authentic) smile does." So, what makes a man? |
| Sat May 16 19:25:09 | Jeff Bezos, meet Tony Hsieh. @Zappos Expands http://bit.ly/r7oBr [Luv seeing David vs Goliath, esp when David is Asian dude like me! :-)] |
| Sat May 16 18:40:22 | Game Web 2.Over? http://ff.im/-2XaBK [No, we're now in post-season & wannabes didn't make thru 1st&2nd rounds. Fun 2see S16&F4 playout.] |
| Sat May 16 18:32:16 | Rise Of Social Distrib Nets http://ff.im/-2X7 [@georgedearing keeps linking gr8 wkend reads like this even tho I wish he'd wait til Monday.] |
| Sat May 16 18:02:57 | #wolframalpha missing huge opportunity to enable users to learn from each other. To bad Dr. Wolfram wants 2b HAL9000 instead of Ghandi 2.0. |
| Sat May 16 17:59:26 | If #wolframalpha doesn't enable/leverage network/collab effects, it'll be nothing more than a calc/almanac 2.0 & encyclopedia 2.5. |
| Sat May 16 17:45:53 | Wish #wolframalpha would tell me: "Ppl who asked this Q also asked these Qs" so I can do anonymous intellectual circle jerk w/ other geeks. |
| Sat May 16 17:39:56 | Twitter's Real-Time Uselessness Proven by (Mistaken) Gay Marriage Hysteria http://bit.ly/aYwsR [Yup, Twitter amplifies stupidity/ignorance.] |
| Sat May 16 15:40:01 | 2nd #wolframalpha Q: "temperature of sun" http://bit.ly/VimsC -much better, but besides intellectual masturbation, what's this good for? :-) |
| Sat May 16 15:30:01 | 1st #wolframalpha Q: "what is 1000000th decimal digit of pi" http://bit.ly/dK4h4 -not exactly result I wanted. Google: http://bit.ly/vE6pZ |
| Sat May 16 00:33:07 | @2healthguru "We need social networks" - that's like saying "We need hammer even tho we don't know or can't see the nails." :-) #C20 |
| Fri May 15 17:28:35 | "I Lived Through the Depression: This Ain't Nothing!" http://bit.ly/13m3zR [Fav line: "The community was key." Key: Communal, no social.] |
| Fri May 15 16:09:40 | Year of shift to #E20: http://bit.ly/11gP0r (by @dhinchcliffe) [IMHO, orgs now know what/why but need help w/ how/when/where & what's next.] |
| Fri May 15 00:54:47 | Dell CMO on Design/Innovation http://bit.ly/teGH9 "Our crown jewel is online exp. Need to be authentic. Go where convos are happening." |
| Fri May 15 00:39:35 | V-honored 2b on blogroll of @rww Community Mgmt Aggregator http://bit.ly/19ZaQD - access included w/ $299 Guide: http://bit.ly/rwwreport1 |
It resembles my own social media data flow with just a few slight differences:
Otherwise, my SM data flow is just like Louis’s. The primary benefit for me is that my content is exposed to various people on the networks or social media channel that they happen to be on. For instance, my “friends” on Facebook see my tweets (though many of whom probably would prefer not to, but they can filter me out if they like) without having to use Twitter. People, who subscribe to my blog, see just “Nuggets from my Tweetstream” posts instead of being overwhelmed by my entire tweetstream. And the crazies, who are stalking my every move, can monitor my FriendFeed stream, which is the “fire hose” through which practically all of my online activities are aggregated.
I’m highlighting all of this info as a blog entry because I’ve frequently tweeted about the importance of taking an “omni media” approach, and due to Twitter’s Search Suckage and 140 character limitation, I figured that it would be much easier to find and more effective to refer to this post later than finding and referencing one of my tweets like the one below: 
By taking an “omni media” approach coupled with a community-to-network integration strategy, you can reach a much broader set of audiences than any particular media channel, social or otherwise, by itself. Hence, although a recent study revealed that “Young adults (18-24 years old) haven't warmed up to Twitter,” you need not worry because while only 22% surveyed use Twitter, a whopping 99% of them belong to social networks.
Admittedly, I don’t have all the answers, but I’m very excited to be part of a company that’s making substantial R&D investments in tools and techniques to address these questions. And a research article “Managing information sharing within an organizational setting: A social network perspective” co-authored by John-Paul Hatala of Flowork International and published in January 2009 offers a concise model and straightforward approach for assessing organizational effectiveness based on patterns of information sharing within groups and between groups. JP was kind enough to send me a free review copy and gave me permission to post a few excerpts.
The two columns in the diagram represent whether information sharing occurs or does not occur within a group, and the two rows represent whether information sharing is occurring or not occurring between two or more groups:
So, where does your organization stand on the diagram? You have no f*cking idea, do you? :-) Don’t fret because most people don’t have any clue either their respective organizations. And that’s the key question Enterprise 2.0 tools like Telligent’s Community Server Evolution and Harvest Reporting Server can help answer. If the model and approach described above make sense to you and you’d like to find out more about how to utilize them to assess your organization’s effectiveness, please ping JP on Twitter (http://twitter.com/jphatala) or visit his company’s website (http://socialnetworkaudit.com).