Are all members of my social network(s) equal?

I was thinking about Charlene Li's blog about social networks (Yes, again) and one paragraph stuck in my mind where Charlene talks about the possible uses of my social network in shopping environments.

Instead, I want to see reviews from my friends when I’m in the book buying process – on sites like Amazon.com and BN.com. It would mean a lot more for you to look at the Groundswell page on Amazon, and because you’re sign-in with your email address, be able to see any review a friend has written about the book – even if it’s on their personal blogs. That’s the epitome of social networks being like air, when it’s integrated into everything that you do.

I like the idea of the social network being relevant in a particular context (I've blogged about this in corporate settings). If I'm shopping for books, I want to see the book reviews of people in my network. Of course, the problem comes about when I have a huge social network such as that of twitter where I may have thousand of friends. If I have to dig through all those reviews, I'd go crazy. Not only do I have different social networks (perhaps this is just a current restriction of the plethora of social network sites which are available and which don't often share members amongst themselves), I also have different relationships with members of these networks. Some might be personal friends, some might be co-workers, etc.

Furthermore, I may have some personal understanding of the qualities of the members of my social networks. For example, some members share my tastes in music, others have similar interests in books. My impressions of these individuals may also be different from other members of their social networks. I don't know whether these are "sub-networks" of my existing networks ("Facebook friends who have similar interest in Chinese cooking") or new networks. The thought that such networks could exist in the social network cloud (members from LinkedIn combined with Facebook and twitter) is also interesting. Of course, a meta-social network is difficult in that there are many niche social network sites whose collected data reflects their specific interest area (A site focusing at soccer-related networks probably will not acquire information about which books members have read).

Returning to Charlene's example of interaction of social networks in the shopping context, I think that it would much more appropriate to get advice from the select few who taste in books are similar to mine rather than the book reviews of all those individuals in my social network (although this could be provided if desired).

Web 2.0 Ideas on user-provided information

Just read a blog about CityIn which is a Chinese social networking site that lets users identify the brands in which they are interested and then identifies content and relationships based on these selection. This reminds me of Tim O'Reily's speech at the SAP TechEd in Las Vegas in which he describes the importance of having user's create their content and add value to corporate data already present. I heard a podcast this morning about a new start up called SizeMeUp that attempts to deal with the fact that sizes often don't match between stores or brands - just because you wear a size 8 in one brand of jeans doesn't mean that you will be the same size in another brand. The service allows users to describe the various size of clothes that fit them (based on particular brands in their closet) and then uses this information when users shop. I found the idea intriguing in that the more users join and provide information, the better the data will be for all. As Tim suggested, users are more willing to provide information with the knowledge that they will benefit in some way.

The challenge for other Web 2.0 based services is finding the information that users can provide that has a value and fits the corporate environment. If you provide a product and users can provide information (comments, etc.) that may affect the product characteristics of an item whose design, manufacture process takes 8 months or longer, then users don't see the immediate payback and may be reluctant to provide information. Unless they might see how their information effects the design process. An idea: what about providing users the ability to follow their ideas in the corporate landscape - "your idea is now being examined by our marketing dept", etc.

Of course, collecting the sizes on pairs of pants is not the same as collecting information on a piece of industrial machinery. First of all, the number of users who finds this information relevant is - in comparison limited - and what sort of information should such users provide. How they use the tool, CAD drawings, etc. Pants sizes and brands are easy to collect and process. One idea could be based on the collection of data from machines they already have.

Twitter-like systems in corporate environments

I was thinking about the use of a twitter-like environment in a corporate setting that would allow users to send tweets that contained more „appropriate“ (at least in a corporate setting) content than those usually sent in Twitter. Users working on particular projects might keep their followers abreast of their activities (creating marketing proposal for customer x, working on CAD design for Ford Viper 10 air intake value, etc.). Those users who wish to comment could then send a tweet back with advice, comments, etc.

This is of course the goal of most corporate uses of social network technology. Managers know that there will probably be some degree of „personal“ traffic in such environments. Those tweets that are of a more collaborative character will be critical in efficiently using the knowledge and experience of its workforce. Once those individuals who grow up using this technology enters the workforce in greater force then such behavior/opportunities for collaboration will be acceptable and expected in corporate settings.

One critical issue will be the creation of the social networks in the corporate setting. Will individuals be allowed to create their own? Will the corporation add individuals with a certain profile (same division, same customer, etc.) to an employee‘s network in order to achieve the desired efficiency. This might be expected inasmuch as the huge number of potential followers in a global company will be unknown to the individual employee. I‘ve talked about one variation of „dynamic“ creation of social networks in a corporate setting in one of my SDN blogs. There are probably of variety of other options available depending on industry and corporate culture.

Social context for activities: The corporate angle

I just read Charlene Li's blog at Forrester entitled "The future of social networks: Social networks will be like air" and I was reminded of a blog I wrote on SAP's SDN on the relevance of social networks (even private ones) in a corporate setting. Charlene writes: "That’s the epitome of social networks being like air, when it’s integrated into everything that you do. " and although she is primarily talking about the use of social networks in other private contexts, I think it is just as valid to say that as our private and "corporate" personalities merge and have greater interaction with one another that is just as relevant to think about business applications that use our private social networks and vice-versa.
Of course, there may be some who suggest that there might not be a difference between my "private" social network and my "corporate" one. I agree. As Charlene describes it in her blog, her Forrester colleagues are also part of her network. I would assume that some customers as well are present. Thus, there is not really a distinction between the two.
In a corporate setting, the question is what types of corporate decisions are relevant in an examination of this use of social networks. Of course, you probably wouldn't want to include your entire social network in every purchasing decision you made. But what about decisions regarding product selection or marketing. Would you / could you (sort of sounds like Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham), use Twitter to send out questions regarding a product. To your "personal" followers....

Book list: 2008-03

I'm currently reading:

• MashupCorporation - A good book that includes a fictional corporation going through some technology-related changes.
• Book of Salt - Novel about a cooking and a Vietnamese cook for Gertrud Stein
• Water Babies: A classic children's tale by Charles Kingsley from 1917 that has loads of details about rural life in the England of the time.

Thoughts on Twitter and ITunes Integration

What about a closer association between iTunes and Twitter. You could tweet not what you are curently listening to (see Steve Clifford's Current-Track-to-Twitter for the Macintosh ) which might occur automatically but I think a more interesting approach might include your quick (two words) review of the content (either song, tv show, etc.) that you have just consumed.

Integration on a song level might overflow your followers and might be time-conmsuming, so albums might be better.

You'd have to look at privacy issues as well if you started streaming your iTunes content in the background. Remember the problems that Facebook had.

If you were looking at a windows box, the ITunes API -which appears to be based on COM- could be accessed via JAVA and combined with the Twitter API.

The Red Lion or creativity is difficult

I often tell my oldest daughter bedtime stories. Long ago, I started telling stories based on the adventures of the “Red Lion” - a lion that walk and talks like a human. I created a whole world populated with friends, acquaintances and locations that I always included. To give my daughter an active part of the story-telling process, she could select the title of that evening’s adventure. Based on her suggestion, I would then create an adventure.
Often a I noticed that it was often a challenge to create interesting stories based on her selection. On occasion, I just didn’t want to tell a story about the Red Lion. I preferred to read a book aloud. I started thinking about why was the tendency occurred.

I realized that the creative process takes energy. It isn’t always easy to do. It doesn’t matter whether the creative act involves a new product idea, a story for your kids, or a new fashion design. You have to be in the mood to be creative. You can’t always be “on” and pump out creativity. You can’t force ideas to come - you have to create a conducive environment - which is different for everyone.

If you are able to discover the characteristics of this personal environment, you have won a true gift. This gift can be used for your company to develop ideas with corporate value or for personal gains. For me, the end product of the idea is of secondary importance. The fact that the idea is not wasted is the critical aspect. How you define “wasted” is another interesting question. Is the fact that the you forget an idea mean that it is wasted? Or is the fact that you write it down and down tell others about it. Is this a waste?