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November 16, 2005

Is Business Ready For Social Software?

Posted by Stowe Boyd

I am just starting to come back to normalcy (such as it is, for me), and pulling together my thoughts about the Symposium on Social Architecture. I have been trying to catch up on the excellent posts by David Weinberger and others (see Corante SSA), but I couldn't resist the attention that out slacker ethic seems to have caused:

[from Is business ready for social software? by Bob Brown]
The conference, held in a Harvard Law School classroom, oozed casualness, as speakers donned jeans and hats, and repeatedly encouraged attendees to join in the discussion. Attendees included a mix of social software developers, bloggers armed with laptops (see a collection of blogs on the event here) and even employees of well-known tech vendors such as IBM and HP. Social software discussed included not just blog programs but also community-oriented Web sites such as Flickr and Del.icio.us.

I wonder what hat he was talking about?

The session sparked one major insight for me. As individuals adopt social software, and attempt to use it as an adjunct to their professional work, they might pull it into their organization... or maybe they won't. Imagine that many small or medium sized companies (and in the future, large ones...) individuals might simply use the tools that they are conversant with. So people in the music business might network directly through MySpace, rather than through soem company specific solution. The same model may repeat in other sectors -- lawyers collaborating through a future Law.com solution, or new media people coordinating through the social solutions offered in the online solutions where they are posting their video podcasts.

This could lead to a hollowing out of the corporate role in defining and deciding what are the appropriate tools for business to be conducted.

[tags: Corante SSA, Symposium on Social Architecture, Bob Brown]

Comments (13) + TrackBacks (0) | Category: Events

COMMENTS

1. David Collin on November 16, 2005 03:48 PM writes...

I think you're right-on with your observation. One of the problems with being a pioneer with new web tools is that you can experience considerable dissonance between the social fluidity of the social software environment and the heavily managed, bureaucratic communication systems within corporations. It's the old one-foot-on-the-dock and one-in-the-rowboat situation. The desire to diminish the difference may produce change.

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2. Tom Abshire on November 16, 2005 11:10 PM writes...

The dissonance is well beyond the notion of pioneer versus -- the early majority. For many, the dissonance in business and other organizations is the impact of too many tools resulting in too many disconnected repositories of knowledge and information. How can we collaborate and communicate dispersed within formal and informal systems across the intranet and Internet? In addition, ownership and control of proprietary information will emerge as a challenge just as it did with email.

With many things Web 2.0, there is a growing ‘show me’ sentiment in the broader community. Vague statements about the value or being too focused on the ‘how’ will not reverse this trend. Until we clearly communicate the value that social networks create in terms that are meaningful for business, (and meaningful for the general population), I imagine this sentiment of doubt will continue to grow.

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3. Mary Hunt on November 30, 2005 12:10 PM writes...

Social software will prove that humankind is basically good or basically evil if left on their own with no rules except their own common sense. (If E-Bay is any indication, we're pretty good at self regulating.)

Being raised Catholic (no longer) I was repeated told that I was born bad and only God could save me. As a blogger I believe that my voice is just as good as the next and that voice isn't out to hurt anyone.

I say let chaos reign and let's just see if we're sinners or winners at heart.

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