Mike Gotta, of ZDNet's Tech Update penned Social Computing: Getting Ahead of the Blog in April (4/20/04).
He gives a good overview of social computing, offers examples with blogs, but the part that was helpful for me was his list of questions. He takes it beyond blog-praise to the next step -- making it real. Making it real means helping the users/potential users think about how it might work for them. Beyond the fluidity of the early adopters. There are some lovely, thought provoking questions here.
- How do blogs add or detract from the overall business model?
- How will blogs be positioned versus other communication, collaboration, and information channels?
- Will users respond to a “pull” (subscription-based) model?
- Will a browser model for reading blogs suffice, or will an e-mail client be preferred by users?
- Will blog proliferation lead to just another source of information overload?
- To what degree is editorial control and release management required?
- How will the time devoted to blog-related activities by employees be valued?
- What leadership, communication plans, and reward/incentive programs are necessary to encourage blog adoption and use?
- What risk factors do blogs present (e.g., court-ordered discovery, regulatory compliance)?
- What rights management situations might arise (e.g., copyright)?
- Will blogs become as credible a resource as other sources of company information?
- How will blogs be used within business processes as opposed to personal networks?
- What are the alignment aspects of blogs (e.g., portals, content, learning, and collaboration tools)?
- How do blogs “fit” into existing infrastructure (directory, security, operational management)?
- What metrics (e.g., subscription data, page sessions) should be gathered and reported?
- Are blogs a premium service for certain external activities (e.g., commerce aspects)?
- Are vendors already on-standard and poised to deliver blog tools, or can they deliver the same benefits within existing technology?
- What options do emerging vendors, hosted services, or open-source alternatives offer?
- What are the archival and records management aspects of blogs?
- What storage implications (e.g., backup/restore) will occur, and what limitations around storage allocation per worker (similar to e-mail inboxes) might have to be established?
- What content security aspects should be required to protect liability, confidentiality, and intellectual property?
- How does all this fit into a social computing strategy?
I'd like to add my questions:
- How can we begin to imagine, implement and describe ways for blogs to support not only information sharing, but collaboration?
- What are the tools and processes that allow collaboration to progress from the initial catalyst provided by knowledge shared on blogs?
Thoughts? Hit the comment button.