Archive for 12th July 2008

Firms should be more social says Gartner

12th July 2008, 08:46 pm

A new report from Gartner suggests that businesses are missing out on the huge potential that social networks offer. The report is based on a survey completed across 4,000 respondents in 18 countries towards the end of 2007 and concludes that:

Most users of social networking Web sites are motivated mainly by personal needs and a desire for entertainment, rather than business and practical objectives, according to a recent survey by Gartner, Inc. Gartner said that although the potential of such sites for business remains largely untapped, they will become increasingly important to the competitiveness of large enterprises in the future.

The survey shows a significant interest in social networking and other social tools among consumers. Social communication is more appealing than transactional communication. So people want to use social networks, instant messenger systems, online communities and other systems rather than just email.

But businesses are not making the most of this level of interest. In fact Gartner suggest that many firms are sceptical of this trend

If you look at the first reaction from any business when they examine this, it’s there is no reason to do this. People are “throwing sheep” at one another and they are seeing “who is hot”

For me, businesses who believe this miss the point. Yes people may use social networks and social communication tools to do both of these things. This doesn’t mean they aren’t suited to a business environment. People use email for many varied and equally frivolous reasons, but that is commonly accepted as the main business communication tool.

People are becoming more and more comfortable with social networks and other social tools. They are becoming an integral part of their lives and allowing them to communicate in new and different ways. Business seems to lack behind a little in this and it would be great to see more businesses experimenting with social communication, from just allowing instant messenger for internal communications, or engaging customers in online communities.

Evidence from an online research community we are currently running for a client suggests that if businesses don’t adopt new tools that their employees or customers are using, then they will adopt them anyway. Then you run the risk of losing control and not being able to engage in the debate.

Some more reading

Category: Matt Rhodes, Social networks  |  1 Comment

The Economist online debate series

12th July 2008, 12:02 am
The Economist

The Economist Debate Series is in full swing. The latest debate is centred on the proposition that “The competitiveness of today’s rich countries is in permanent decline”. The rules are familiar to anybody who’s seen debates before. Somebody is arguing for the proposition and somebody against. And those viewing the debate can vote. But this Economist debate is online.

The online debate series uses a simple online community functionality:

  • the debate has a moderator and a individual commentators or experts who are for and against the motion. Their arguments are put to the debate when the community is launched
  • individual readers can access the community site, read the arguments and vote for or against the motion. They are asked to post their comments and reasons with their vote
  • the experts return twice more - each time a few days apart. They respond to the other expert’s comments and to the comments of the community members who have voted
  • community members can change their vote during the period of the debate, either because their opinions change or develop, or because they are convinced by the developing arguments
  • the debate closes after ten days and the winner announced

I love these Economist debates. They are a great example of one of the real benefits of online communities - they allow real and true reflection on your opinions. Rather than just getting to vote once, or getting just a couple of hours to consider a complex issue, people get ten days and can read arguments multiple times. They get to comment and have their comments responded to. They are entering into a real and reasoned exchange.

We find in our online research communities that people give better depth of response and more reasoned reactions when they have time to think about and consider issues, and to read and re-read any inputs or arguments. The Economist debates allow this and I think reading through the comments from community members that you can really see the benefit that comes from this time and reasoned comment.

Overall this kind of online debate programme probably generates more reasoned comment than its offline counterpart. As such it is a great example of where online communities can enhance the previous offline experience.

Some more reading

Category: Matt Rhodes, Online communities  |  Comment