Home / web 2.0

Jun
2

By

Great Resource: 7 things you should know about

Category: Featured Articles, Social Media Tags: , , , , Leave a Comment

If you are responsible for technology, or managing your organization’s online presence – Educause has put together a series of smart, useful briefs called 7 things you should know about.

Aside from liking it because I love the number 7 (it’s very Harry Potter), the series provides concise information on learning technologies. Each brief focuses on a single technology or practice and describes what it is, how it works, where it is going, and why it matters.

While the materials have an education ‘spin’, they are relevant to most of us on many levels, reviewing sites, social networks, and concepts such as Twitter, Flickr, Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, RSS, Creative Commons, and much more.

I use these briefs to help educate and ‘enlighten’ my organization, helping to shift the fundamental attitude and culture of understanding around social networks, information management, and technologies that help support the mission.

Thank you Educause for putting this together!

Apr
1

By

5 Internet-related phrases I love to loathe

Category: Internet Strategy, Social Media Tags: , , , 1 Comment

For me, these are like nails on a chalkboard. Unfortunately, I am forced to use some of these from time-to-time.

  1. Virtual Tradeshow: Tradeshows are meant for in-person networking, idea-sharing, collaboration.. Folks who want a virtual tradeshow online really want a very visual product directory, which is fine – just don’t call it a tradeshow.
  2. Portal: My mental picture on this is a dumping ground for links to other places. Del.icio.us is much more effective, if this is what you want.
  3. Social Media: This is the term I love to hate. Isn’t all media social? The problem is I have yet to find another way to describe what it is that I am doing to my colleagues. Perhaps we need to make up a word, or borrow one from Tolkien’s elvish dictionary.
  4. Web 2.0: I guess I am just really tired of this one. Isn’t the web always evolving?
  5. Sticky eyeballs: The concept behind this rubs against the importance of community and collaboration online. Not to mention it sounds like a disease.

Mar
14

By

Revisiting the Cluetrain Manifesto

Category: Digital strategy, Social Media Tags: , , , , , , 4 Comments

John Cass, on his PR Communications Blog, recently wrote an excellent critique of The Cluetrain Manifesto. Now that the book is 10 years old, and we are living in the midst of this messy web of connections and conversation, John refers to some of the “95 theses” in the book and discusses them in the context of today’s reality.

In my professional life, I work for a large non-profit organization, and am challenged by choosing the “right” level of involvement in social media strategies across the board. Are we better served by telling everyone who works for the company to go out and hold open, free-wheeling conversations about us through their blogs, facebook/myspace accounts, etc., or are we better served in a controlled environment where we empower a few folks to do this giving them ample resources to be successful.

If we choose the “free-wheeling” approach, is it worth the risking the reputation of the company through that “blurry line of social media” – if someone uses poor judgment somewhere along the line. Alternatively, is this really any different than a personal Friday evening happy hour where the employee of a company talks about work, home, and uses poor judgement all the way around?

On the other hand, if we do choose to impose some level of restriction on these things – are we missing out on broader reach, opportunities, and success? If we want to create a “tipping” point for around our organizational mission, shouldn’t we have as many people talking about it as possible?

Both approaches have promise. Both approaches have risks. This is truly a journey where I will try a few different things to see what works.

Definitely worth a conversation, though. What do you think?