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JANUARY 2009 NEWSLETTER
"While the standard definition of a social network embodies the notion of all the people with whom one shares a social relationship, in reality people interact with very few of those listed as part of their network," observes HP's Social Computing Lab in a study of relationships on the social network Twitter.
This research reflects a persistent human behavior as people move toward the world of online relationships. In the "offline" world, our relationships are determined by factors partially out of our control: where we grew up, where we went to school, where we've worked. In the online world, these frictions are removed, and it is indeed easier to find different people with whom to connect. But it turns out we still rely on a limited set of trusted connections for information.
For organizations, this fundamental human trait presents a couple opportunities. First, it's important to ensure a rotation of visibility for colleagues. Employees' projects and jobs change and evolve, and someone who made sense as a regular information source before may not fit as well now. Second, when employees are considering the utility of information for their jobs, content from sources they already know will likely receive higher attention. If companies can leverage those relationships, they can help employees better filter the information needed for their jobs, and better understand where workers are getting their information.
This is the realm of social network analytics, and as Mike Gotta wrote, it's an area we should watch for 2009.
Hutch Carpenter
Connectbeam
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| Three Things We're Reading |
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Idea Generation & the Quality of the Best Idea
INSEAD and University of Pennsylvania researchers studied the quality of ideas that emerge from brainstorming. Specifically, they analyzed two methods of brainstorming: (1) everyone together in a conference room ("Team"); and (2) individual brainstorming first, then everyone together in a conference room ("Hybrid").
Their findings are a must read. Hybrid generates a larger number of ideas with higher average quality. Team generates the absolute best and worst ideas. One caution - poor idea ranking by the group can obliterate Team's best ideas advantage.
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EMC Corp. - A Journey in Social Media
Chuck Hollis of EMC Corp. has written an excellent white paper that describes how his company rolled out social computing. He's open about the challenges of implementing Enterprise 2.0, in terms of top-down philosophies, protection of information, departmental budgets, etc. And he provides specific benefits and implementation strategies.
One learning: employees found it much easier to scan the social platform for information, rather than "asking around".
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Introducing Delicious Tag Mining for Brand Research: A Look at the Top 50 Retailers
Have you ever checked out how your company and your competitors are tagged in the social bookmarking service Del.icio.us? The tags people use to describe your company and others can be a great way to pick up signals about how you're perceived.
Lisa Braziel of Ignite Social Media has a great write-up in which she analyzes the tags of leading retailers across different categories. One example: Circuit City is tagged with the spanish 'compras' much more than Best Buy, perhaps indicating an untapped Hispanic market. Check it out to see other insights provided by the tags.
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| In Focus |
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Three Silos That Enterprise 2.0 Must Break
"Expertise is emergent" says Harvard professor Andrew McAfee. He means that the people and information which can help with a particular issue can come from anywhere inside an organization. Tapping these resources more effectively is a key benefit of Enterprise 2.0.
To realize this opportunity, the next generation of tools needs to break three silos that limit the ability for employees' natural smarts and enthusiasm to emerge.
Information silos limit access to content, and come in two forms. Structural silos that limit access, such as email and storage on local hard drive. And open applications like wikis which house information outside the flow of daily work are silos. If the information is only accessible outside your routine, you're not likely to see it.
Knowledge silos are the knowledge and perspectives we carry around in our heads. Previous knowledge management efforts tried to record this knowledge. Enterprise 2.0's job is to increase the frequency with which those who need find those who know.
Connection silos are the limits people naturally have in terms of the number of close connections. The challenge here is that often times, the person with the right information to help you is not a close connection. Improving workers' ability to connect with others is a responsibility of Enterprise 2.0.
| News and Events |
- ZDNet names Connectbeam a 2009 Company to Watch for Social CRM (link)
- Connectbeam will be at the UGCX Conference Feb. 9-10, 2009, San Jose, CA (link)
- Connectbeam Blog: Four Enterprise 2.0 Prognostications for 2009 by Industry Leaders (link)
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| Connectbeam Spotlight |
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Connectbeam Spotlight is the award winning collaborative information sharing platform for business.
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Connectbeam...powering employee social networks through collaborative information sharing.
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