From the category archives:

Microblogging

Twitter Is An Information Company.

by on January 28, 2010 · Comments

in Google, Internet, Microblogging, Microsoft, Real-time, Search, Social Networking, Twitter

I took the passage below from one of The Economist’s latest stories on social networking. I tend to agree with the assessment of Twitter as an “information company,” the more I see its evolution.

“..Mr Stone says he sees Twitter as more akin to an outfit like Google than to Facebook. He describes the business as “an information company” whose users are keen to find out answers to what is happening in the world. The billions of tweets that Twitter is gathering up could certainly be the basis for a vast, searchable archive. The challenge facing Mr Stone and his colleagues is to find smart ways of transforming those raw data into profits."

I know there’s a lot of folks who’ll go to their online grave exclaiming that Twitter is simply a community. I don’t disagree, I’ve worked inside my own Twitter community for almost three years.

But if you look at how the platform is being used and monetized, it’s exactly as Stone describes in the passage above. Both Google and Microsoft have compensated Twitter for its “information” and that interest doesn’t appear to be waning soon.

Both Bing and Google realized early on that real-time would have a big impact on the way people search for information. While they’ve got their own share of eyeballs, the reality is that you and I continue to communicate on an always-on and instantaneous channel as we share on Twitter’s platform.

None of the others — Google. Microsoft, or Yahoo — have anything to rival that. Of course Facebook is the closest. as The Economist points out, but still lacks the openness that Twitter provides. Until Facebook or another entrant opens to the web completely – a la Twitter – its information will remain at a premium.

[Illustration above by Ian Whadcock]

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Social Business Strategy From Guarav Mishra And Dave Evans

by on January 17, 2010 · Comments

in Business, Collaboration, Digital Strategy, Enterprise 2.0, Internet, Microblogging, Online Communities, RSS, Social Computing, Social Media, Social Networking, Social Software, Strategy, Tools, Web 2.0

2020 Social Position Paper Social Business Strategy

Posted via web from George Dearing dot com

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Image by cambodia4kidsorg via Flickr

As you’d expect there’s quite a few mentions of niche networks, word-of-mouth, Twitter and mobile computing in TrendsSpotting’s latest Twitter-ized version of its 2010 predictions.

On the mobile front, I’m done with saying it won’t be the “year of mobile” again. I think it’s now safe to say that the mobile interface should be pervasive for brands. The excuses for not having consistent communications across any platform are no longer accepted.

One of the other quotes that stood out was John Batelle’s prediction that the microblogging interface would change and “look nothing like a microblog.” I’d guess that has a lot to do with the interface disappearing in some respects. By that I mean interfaces will be accessed through all sorts of services, applications and embedded widgets. And in a sense I think it’s already changed pretty drastically.

Think about how you access Twitter these days. I bet that’s changed over the last year or so. There’s all sorts of third-party services that let you circumvent the Twitter interface completely. In fact, between Listiti (Google Alerts for Twitter Lists) FriendFeed and Tweetie, it’s rare that I see Twitter’s web interface. Perhaps a better prediction is one that describes the “vanishing microblogging” interface.

The other thing that almost everyone seems to allude to is how social media will become more entrenched in the inner-workings of companies – from their external communication practices to the way business systems are built, designed and deployed.

That last part is why you hear so much about “social business,” which is a really tough thing to distill into something folks can understand.

If you stray too far to the technical, toolset, or process side, you sound like a business process re-engineering (BPR) evangelist. Jump over too much to the “social media” side and you quickly run the risk of being categorized as too fluffy or someone trying to socialize things that really don’t need to be social.

This is where you insert legacy systems, ERP or any other late 90s business technology or application set. You see, those systems and processes still run the back offices of most large companies today.

Transforming that infrastructure and those corporate processes will take much more than toolsets or well-planned social media strategies. It’ll take generational diversity, proper governance programs and just time…lots of time in some cases.

I guess what I struggle with is the transformative rah-rah that comes so neatly packaged inside of “social business” discussions. It seems the focus increasingly starts with the assumption that every process or line of business needs a social media or social computing stamp. Folks aren’t bashful about defining the burning platform — often rushing out to buy it, build it and implement it.

In 2010, I think you’ll see social tools and technologies de-emphasized, which in turn will spark a renewed focus on the core business. You’ll be pressed to help your clients look holistically at their business, not just through the social media lens. The agencies, consultants and practitioners that pitch just tools, technology and 2.0 will be the minority — and rightfully so.

2010 Social Media Influencers – Trend Predictions in 140 Characters, by TrendsSpotting