LLiu's Community Zen Master Blog

The Spectrum of Computer Mediated Collective Action and the Collaboration Funnel

Lawrence Liu — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:14:38 GMT

“Computer mediated collective action” is a term that was coined in the "Picturing Usenet: Mapping Computer-Mediated Collective Action” research paper, published in 2005 and co-authored by Dr. Marc Smith, Chief Social Scientist of Telligent. Before social networking, before online communities, and before blogs and forums, there was Usenet, which is described in Marc’s paper as follows:

Usenet is a conversational social cyberspace in particular and a computer-mediated collective action system in general.

I hereby propose that since the dawning of the Web in the early 1990s, a broad spectrum of tools and use cases have emerged to support various types and levels of computer mediated collective action. I’ve made references to this spectrum in a couple of previous blog entries:

And here’s the visual representation of the spectrum that consists of 3 distinct segments (networks, communities, and teams) and the respective strengths of “interpersonal ties” that keep together the members of each segment:

The segments have the following attributes:

Teams with strong ties: common objectives, fixed or collaborative processes, measured outcomes.
Communities with weak ties: common interests, ad-hoc or adaptive processes, spontaneous or unpredictable outcomes.
Networks with potential ties: personal interests, emergent or no processes, undefined outcomes.

And the following software applications (not an exhaustive list!):

Teams: document repositories, task lists, wikis, calendars, activity steams
Communities: blogs, forums, calendar, member profiles, people feeds, topic feeds, activity steams
Networks: member profiles, “friends” lists, activity steams

The importance of my proposed model for collective action is its relevance to the neverending desire of people and businesses to collaborate because it is mostly through the act and process of collaboration, as defined in my previous blog entry, that significant decisions are made and tasks get done. Although collaboration can occur between 2 or more people in any of the segments of the spectrum, my assertion is that collaborative efforts are optimized as the decreasing number of members and the increasing tie strength amongst those members approach that of a typical team. This is what I call the “Collaboration Funnel” as depicted in the diagram above.

The value of thinking about collective action as a continuum of 3 segments is my thesis based primarily on my experience with Microsoft SharePoint’s worldwide ecosystem, the greater likelihood that communities will grow, and the more vibrant a community, the greater likelihood that teams will form. Hence, the less friction there is in both the software used by and the organizational structures/processes governing the people transitioning from 1 segment to another, the easier it will be for teams to form, communities to grow, and networks to expand. From a software perspective, the friction between the segments can be minimized either with a common technology platform or with seamless integration between the respective platforms used in each segment. For instance, if you are relying on SharePoint for teams, Telligent for communities, and Facebook for networks, then you should endeavor to implement as seamlessly as you can the integration between those platforms. And I just happen to have excellent examples of such seamless integration :-)

Another major benefit of this model for collective action is that it reveals the need for either a common analytics tool or a set of seamlessly integrated analytics tools that can span all 3 segments. Measurement and reporting via an analytics tool are necessary because much of the activities are emergent rather than structured even in the most tight knit of teams, so any rigid structures or processes would would increase friction. Therefore, you must measure, report, and analyze the activities quickly and iteratively in order to make informed decisions about what to do next. Moreover, analytics will ultimately enable the most relevant content to be targeted at specific users (based on previous activities in any of the 3 segments) thereby making information discovery and contextual awareness much more efficient. And this is indeed one of the primary objectives for Telligent’s ongoing R&D investment in analytics for the entire spectrum of computer mediated collective action.

What exactly is collaboration anyway?

Lawrence Liu — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:14:00 GMT

While the modern “social networking” meme (as opposed to the classic “social network” and “online communities” memes) appears to have been caught in a hype cycle, the “collaboration” meme seems to have gone through ebbs, flows, and pendulum swings. Recently, I’ve noticed a sharp increase in both the blogosphere and Twitterverse of mentions and inferences to collaboration centric concepts and connotations as if being the anti-hype against social networking. Personally, I don’t believe that it’s an either/or proposition. To be clear, I’ve asserted that networking (be it for social or professional purposes) and collaboration along with community are core aspects of the modern business life cycle and must be integral parts of a holistic Enterprise 2.0 strategy.

But what exactly is collaboration?

Well, Wikipedia defines collaboration as “a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together [“at” or “with” must be the missing word here] intersection of common goals.” [I guess even the epitome of collaborative applications that is Wikipedia still cannot prevent typos or omissions from occurring. :-)]

Although I'd certainly agree with the above definition, I also like the following description of collaboration as referenced in the “Collaboration thread in CACM for April 2008” blog entry by Jack Vinson:

Collaboration generally means working together synergistically. If your work requires support and agreement of others before you can take action, you are collaborating.

Jack’s blog entry also referenced the “Collaboration and Community” paper, which had been published by Scott London way back in 1995 and provides the most streamlined definition of collaboration:

As its Latin roots com and laborare suggest, collaboration reduced to its simplest definition means “to work together.”

While Scott’s paper had focused on collaboration in the political and civic arenas, I believe that the basic characteristics of collaborative endeavors described therein and quoted below apply just as well to any other arena that involves people working together:

The problems are ill-defined, or there is disagreement about how they should be defined.
Several stakeholders have a vested interest in the problems and are interdependent.
These stakeholders are not necessarily identified a priori or organized in any systematic way.
There may be a disparity of power and/or resources for dealing with the problems among the stakeholders.
Stakeholders may have different levels of expertise and different access to information about the problems.
The problems are often characterized by technical complexity and scientific uncertainty.
Differing perspectives on the problems often lead to adversarial relationships among the stakeholders.
Incremental or unilateral efforts to deal with the problems typically produce less than satisfactory solutions.
Existing processes for addressing the problems have proved insufficient.

Scott’s paper goes on to differentiate collaboration versus other models of cooperation:

Collaboration, then, involves articulating a shared purpose and direction and working toward joint decisions. This distinguishes it from other forms of cooperation which may involve common interests but are not based on a collectively articulated goal or vision. Ann Austin and Roger Baldwin note that while there are obvious similarities between cooperation and collaboration, the former involves preestablished interests while the latter involves collectively defined goals.

Upon reading that, I was compelled to post the following tweet:

Social/Networking: shared narcissism | Community: shared interest | Collaboration/Teamwork: shared objective | deets: http://bit.ly/15pbyG

Then of special importance are the principles of collaboration as suggested and referenced in Scott's paper:

What are the preconditions for effective collaboration? Most observers agree that it must be democratic and inclusive; that is, it must be free of hierarchies of any kind and it must include all parties who have a stake in the problem. As Cornelia Butler Flora et al. point out, "without community empowerment and broad participation in agenda setting, the ... decision-making process of discussion, debate, and compromise is relatively meaningless."

Barbara Gray observes that collaboration can only be meaningful if the stakeholders are interdependent. "Collaboration establishes a give and take among the stakeholders that is designed to produce solutions that none of them working independently could achieve." In this way, they all depend on each other to produce mutually beneficial solutions.

The remainder of Scott’s paper discusses the dynamics and limitations of collaboration, collaborative leadership, and collaborative communities, all of which are well worth reading. Scott also published a companion paper titled “Collaboration in Action” that provides a survey of over a dozen best practice examples of collaborative efforts in the government and civic arenas, which every enthusiast or perpetuator of the current “Government 2.0” meme would find enlightening, and those examples would apply equally well to other arenas such as “Enterprise 2.0” in particular.

So, there you have it – exactly what collaboration is and a whole lot more. Any questions?

Key success factor for Enterprise 2.0: Finding new roles for middle management

Lawrence Liu — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:25:00 GMT

Yes, I said it. And here’s why.

A couple of days ago, I posted the following tweet:

Disintermediation Brought to You by Lance Amstrong http://bit.ly/13umSc (by @jtwinsor) ["Celebrity 2.0" authenticity over fakery/posery!]

Then I came across the “What Will Social Networking Displace?” blog entry by @lauriemccabe, which triggered another tweet from me:

Social&collaborative media can tear down political/religious/cultural/organizational walls that ppl in power r fighting hard to preserve.

I felt so strongly about it that I posted two more tweets:

Social media disintermediating PR agencies on Web; collaborative media disintermediating middle mgmt within enterprise. Runners > hurdles!
"Cross group collab" perennially ranks low in employee surveys (at least at Microsoft). IMHO, problem is middle mgmt: http://bit.ly/5xfyQ

And then I saw the following blog entries, all of which attempt to differentiate the challenges and impact of social computing on the Web against those of collaborative computing within the enterprise.

Although these guys made some very valid points, and I have the utmost respect for their perspectives, I believe that they missed the biggest issue of all in terms of the primary challenge for successful Enterprise 2.0 implementations, which is succinctly described in the following blog entry:

The Politics of Enterprise 2.0 by @infovark

Essentially, the primary challenge comes down to people, and there are 4 types involved in any given Enterprise 2.0 project:

The software vendor’s sales and support personnel
The consultants (who could also be from the software vendor) who help design and implement the solution
The organization’s personnel (usually IT), who provision and manage the solution
The organization’s personnel (usually LOB), who use the solution

Hence, and I quote: “The secret to sniffing out a rotten enterprise software implementation is recognizing these groups and identifying how well their interests are aligned. In successful implementations, all the key players have complimentary goals and objectives. In failed implementations, these groups are working at cross-purposes, if not actively trying to sabotage each other.”

I could end this blog entry right here, but I haven’t addressed the subject itself – that is, why I believe that finding new roles for middle management is a key success factor for Enterprise 2.0. While management in the most generic sense is “simply the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals,” middle management “is a layer of management in an organization whose primary job responsibility is to monitor activities of subordinates while reporting to upper management.” And just like how social media and other Web 2.0 technologies have enabled Lance Armstrong to bypass the middle management (e.g. PR firms, talent management agencies, news makers) that has stood between him and the general public, Enterprise 2.0 technologies enable people who are doing the “real” work within organizations to bypass their middle management and connect and collaborate with each other directly as well as update and engage upper management directly. By cutting out middle management, the savings are not only in the salaries of those individuals but also in the time and energy expended by their subordinates and upper management to interact with them. Yes, middle management is the tangible overhead in many organizations that Enterprise 2.0 can eliminate!

Of course, no one likes losing their jobs. Without a preemptive plan to find new roles for middle management personnel who will ultimately be displaced, they will undoubtedly do everything they can to jeopardize the success of the project because self-preservation is a powerful human instinct that’s driven by pain and fear. Similar to ERP and CRM projects in the past, Enterprise 2.0 projects have as much, if not a lot more, impact on an organization’s personnel, especially those in middle management. Hence, every Enterprise 2.0 project should include “finding new roles for middle management” as a key success factor.

[Update: I received some feedback from Christian Buckley via Facebook:

Great post, but I have one issue with your conclusion -- that the primary role of middle management is doing nothing more than pushing paper, chasing status reports. If managers provide no value, then yes, cuts should be made. But what is often lost is the human factor -- large, flat organizations (look at Google, for example) have notoriously poor employee sat numbers, because there is very little manager-to-direct interaction. On the contrary, the best-performing and, arguably, happiest teams are the ones where there are strong manager/employee relationships. Can one Director do that with 30 reports? Nope. But can it be done with a robust collaboration platform? Still nope.

To which I replied:

Thx for the feedback. I was referring to the middle management "overhead" in most large organizations where managers have fewer than 7 to 8 direct reports. The "magic number" of DRs may differ in different organizations, but I do agree with you that having 30 DRs is not healthy or sustainable. Nevertheless, I still believe that Enterprise 2.0 technologies can reduce the need for traditional middle management roles, so managers can spend less time managing and more time coaching, leading, and contributing.

]

[Update 2: Just saw this insightful blog entry by Trevor Gay, which makes the point that "the manager is dead - long live the coach" and partially affirms my thesis about how middle management must evolve beyond just managing. I quote the relevant excerpts below:

Nowadays the subordinate person who was previously ‘managed’ by their boss is in possession of as much information as the boss - thanks to the internet. The implications for managers are simple and obvious. If the manager is to retain that ‘higher place’ in the pecking order he/she will need to illustrate what is the added value he/she brings. And ‘many years in the job’ is not the right answer.

I advocate embracing the new challenge and see your role as a coach of talent. The manager with experience and qualifications should be in a position to impart that knowledge and encourage the people in the team. I see less hierarchy and more teamwork where the coach has the job of keeping all the team members happy, fulfilled, motivated, stretched and enthusiastic. This will require development of new and existing skills. The alternative is to watch frontline employees take your space in the organisational chart.

Peter Drucker said “90% of what we call ‘management’ consists of making it difficult for people to get things done.” In the new world of management I see frontline employees being in control of their own workload and calling upon the coach for advice when they need it. Customer expectations are increasing because the customer is more informed. Frontline workers must be at least one step ahead of the customer in order to meet that expectation. The customer of the future will be more demanding. To be left waiting for an answer while the frontliner goes through various layers of management to solve simple problems will not be acceptable.

We have to find ways of ‘letting go’ of the perceived power managers currently have. The best way to gain power is to let go of power. Frontline employees are more than capable of creating their own working practices and project teams with the ‘support’ of the coach rather than the ‘direction’ of a manager.

And here's a related blog entry by Domenic Certa about how to go from being just a "good" coach to an "amazing" coach.

]

Team, Community, and Network connections are more than just "social" and definitely not the same

Lawrence Liu — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:13:00 GMT

As I had described in a blog entry a few weeks ago, being “social” is just one aspect of the modern business life cycle. In this post, I highlight several different kinds of connections that people may have within teams, communities, and networks that are more than just social and not the same. These differences in type and strength of connections can have a significant impact on the patterns of interaction and communication between people, one example of which I recently blogged about in terms of “the true value of Enterprise 2.0 tools for CXOs.” The measurement, analysis, and reporting of activities within networking, community, and collaboration environments, when complemented with the context of relevant connection types and strengths, may reveal valuable insights for why someone had acted a particular way. Having a deeper understanding of the “why” enables one to make decisions more quickly and confidently, which naturally leads to competitive advantages in business as much as it does in life because meaningful actions can only follow informed decisions. [Wow, that’s probably the longest compound sentence I’ve ever written! :-)]

The social (i.e. purely person-to-person) connections that have been popularized by networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are as follows:

User1 is friend of User2: reciprocal and symmetric
User1 is following User2: non-reciprocal and asymmetric
User1 is followed by User2: non-reciprocal and asymmetric

However, there are other connections between people (albeit less direct) that can be more relevant in certain situations:

User1 used the same tag as User2
User1 replied to same forum thread as User2
User1 edited the same wiki page as User2
User1 downloaded the same file as User2
User1 left a comment on the same (User3’s) profile as User2
Any combination of the above as well as several more types of connections

In addition, as Jyri Engeström pointed out 4+ years ago in his “Why some social network services work and others don't” post and then followed up in his “What makes a good social object” post about 2 years ago, there are many types of person-to-object connections that may be worthwhile to track. A couple of examples are:

User1 is following #hashtag2
User1 is friend of SourceCodeAssembly2()

As more and more companies in the Web 2.0 era attempt to “learn and profit from online friendships,” it’s becoming strategically important for businesses as well as people to understand the nature of these connections – how they form, when they change, and how they grow. [Warning: Self-serving verbiage follows!] Telligent (my current employer), with primary research spearheaded by our Chief Social Officer (Dr. Marc Smith) and agile development by our Harvest product team, has invested significantly during the past 2+ years in this problem/opportunity space and will continue to do so. I am extremely about the ongoing R&D that we’re doing in collaboration with key customers, partners, and researchers in both industry and academia.

Wordle cloud for my May 2009 tweetstream

Lawrence Liu — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:21:57 GMT

Well, it appears that I tweeted mostly about “Twitter,” “Socia,l” and “community” during the month of May – no big surprise there. I also mentioned my colleague, George Dearing, quite a bit. And I started using “via” and “by” rather than “RT” to reference someone else’s tweets or blog entries.

Wordle cloud link.

Wordle clouds for my previous months’ tweetstreams:

Nuggets from my May 22-31 2009 tweetstream

Lawrence Liu — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:15:45 GMT

The biggest highlight for me was the brief dialogue with Ted Murphy about how his company’s “Sponsored Conversations” product was just a tempting tactical cop-out for brands that don’t invest strategically in developing a community and having authentic conversations within it. Then later that day, I saw Mike Arrington’s tweet about “SeaWorld commits brand suicide” via one of the sponsored bloggers affiliated with Murphy’s company. Oh, the irony! :-)

Enjoy...

Sun May 31 18:50:15	IMHO, Holy Trinity = Father+Child(ren)+Mother. & Holy "Spirit" is what parents can create & impart on their kids vs rely/wait on "Mystery."
Sat May 30 17:00:37	Discovery & Ambient Awareness: Tools, Techniques, Processes http://bit.ly/A52wR (by @mwalsh) [Gr8 pts but IMHO: goal = Contextual Awareness]
Sat May 30 00:25:37	Games: Another reason why Twitter needs filters http://bit.ly/ShFV3 (by @eldon) [Yup, like I said in my prev tweet: http://bit.ly/80pK3]
Sat May 30 00:19:54	#Spymaster: Twitter Game That Will Assassinate Your Time http://bit.ly/iuAPo [Twitter srsly needs a "block this #hashtag" feature!]
Sat May 30 00:14:15	Wow! MS HealthVault private community sites for consumers (http://bit.ly/TfqcZ) & partners (http://bit.ly/wDVF3) - powered by Telligent!
Fri May 29 23:38:09	"Pay w/ Facebook" Is In The Wild http://bit.ly/udrfO (by @Parislemon) [Socnet/community becomes marketplace/currency w/ FB taking a "vig"!]
Fri May 29 22:09:29	Without measurement, intranets languish http://bit.ly/KMroi (Yup, just like what I said: http://bit.ly/va46i & http://bit.ly/5xfyQ)
Fri May 29 21:30:43	Time for $MSFT to Face Reality abt Search/Internet http://bit.ly/vKkxf (by @hblodget) [Huh? It's huge future $$$, so they must keep at it.]
Fri May 29 21:14:44	Bing Will Change Face of Search http://bit.ly/73ZYW (via @MarkAPatten) [Gr8 pts re impact 2 SEO. Quality content & microformats will b key!]
Fri May 29 20:34:19	"When I was young, I could remember anything, whether happened or not. As I got older, I'd remember only things that didn't happen." -MT :-)
Fri May 29 19:57:12	MS Bing "decision engine" is not Google killer http://bit.ly/IrWjF (by @charleneli) [Don't need 2kill current enemy 2win next battle! :-)]
Fri May 29 19:36:20	If u want accurate B2B profiling based on actual activities & interactions, then implement an online community w/ deep/rich analytics. :-)
Fri May 29 19:33:22	Forrester B2B Social Technographics Profile [Guestimate] Tool (http://bit.ly/EpzmT) based on research (http://bit.ly/jDcKJ). See nxt tweet!
Fri May 29 17:00:41	You Can't Build a Business Case for Social Software http://bit.ly/La4ds [Need to append "Unless You Can Define&Justify the Apps" to title!]
Fri May 29 16:27:07	"content is king" -> "audience as kingdom" http://bit.ly/47e1LC [Duh! Plus "community as village" & "castle(s) for MVP/VIPs" :-)]
Fri May 29 16:20:52	How Ford made me reconsider my auto buying habits http://bit.ly/jZYkt (by @patrickbyers) [Gr8 read! NOT "sponsored convo" from what I see.]
Fri May 29 00:20:06	Microsoft @bing = http://decisionengine.com = better than just search engine (a.k.a. Google) [Finally! It's actually starting 2make sense!]
Fri May 29 00:10:53	Next Disruptive Layer On Internet Stack http://bit.ly/2fxBc (by @georgedearing per @fredwilson) [Agreed: Aggregation+Filtering+Ranking=NBT!]
Fri May 29 00:03:06	But don't focus just on Customer Svc http://bit.ly/4EHuk [Must think/plan/implement/grow/measure your online community holistically!]
Thu May 28 23:59:26	Customer service is the new mktg http://bit.ly/h0gXr (by @mattrhodes) [Not new - see Nordstrom. Just finally caught up in online space!]
Thu May 28 23:53:28	More BizNet Design Principles: Multidisciplinary (x-org&func), Motivational (intuitive value&rewards), Integrated (not silo'd), Extensible.
Thu May 28 23:30:32	BizNet Design Principles: Social, Collaborative, Distributed, Iterative. [Yes! Affirms my "Social != Everything" post: http://bit.ly/xP8WV]
Thu May 28 23:06:04	Gazing into the Twitterverse: a map of Twitter apps http://bit.ly/ogwkT (by @briansolis) [Amazing what a svc w/ simple open API can beget!]
Thu May 28 18:00:55	Several must-read Dell presos abt social media strategy&use @SlideShare: http://bit.ly/QQgJy [V-honored to have them as Telligent customer!]
Thu May 28 17:31:23	Google Wave http://bit.ly/XEezj (via @arislemon & @timoreilly) [Next.Killer.App! Integrating best of forums/wikis/IM into unified web tool!]
Thu May 28 17:30:53	The @ArthurKadeInc Project http://bit.ly/13Bnwq [Oh hell, this cat is for real?! Well, at least he's much more entertaining than @1938media]
Thu May 28 17:04:31	Social Intelligence & Biology of Leadership http://bit.ly/ACRsL [IMHO, why whom u follow on Twitter matters much more than who follows u.]
Thu May 28 17:00:58	#E20 Isn't a Checklist http://bit.ly/ltqVO (by @rotkapchen) [V-insightful frm biz perspective. But there needs 2b checklist at some pt. :-)]
Thu May 28 17:00:45	Social Media ROI Calculator http://bit.ly/GGT40 (by @oxclove via @PaulDunay @BrandAide) [Looks reasonable 2me but need 2see validation.]
Thu May 28 16:55:26	Knowledge Management #E20 Style -in 3 Parts http://bit.ly/tjznE (by @frankx) [Spot on re: what & why but not enuf details on how & metrics.]
Thu May 28 16:44:48	Coming up: (social) renaissance for Business Intelligence http://bit.ly/YBAku (by @oscarberg) [Spot on! I'll blog my thoughts abt it soon!]
Thu May 28 01:26:10	Only vision of future Web I currently believe in is by @novaspivack - http://bit.ly/DK7Kf & http://bit.ly/XCLNM - all else is hype, IMHO.
Thu May 28 01:21:47	@ConversationAge @GeorgeDearing No, Web 3.0 is what ppl say when they don't understand full extent of Web 2.0. See http://bit.ly/DK7Kf
Thu May 28 00:11:15	8 Competencies of Community Maturity Model http://bit.ly/Pi1cD (by @rhappe) [Best of L200 presos I've seen tho orgs r hungry for L300 info.]
Wed May 27 23:17:43	Good assessment of Microsoft/Telligent/speakTECH "Social Enterprise Alliance" http://bit.ly/fGA3n (by RedmondMag via @affiliategenius)
Wed May 27 21:01:29	Fallacy of "Don't Be Stupid" SM Policy http://sn.im/iw8kf (via @cindyalvarez) [Agreed - cuz "be smart (w/ purpose)" != "don't be stupid"]
Wed May 27 20:24:53	Building Your Brand Ambassador Program http://bit.ly/rZ18C (by @chris_bailey) [Must watch 4orgs thinking abt wasting $ on Sponsored Convos.]
Wed May 27 20:13:53	Dear brands: What kind of relationship r u ready for? http://bit.ly/RxIYW (by @iamseanmcdonald) [Ambassadorship FTW! Sponsored Convos suck!]
Wed May 27 18:50:02	Return On Investment in Interaction (ROII) http://bit.ly/xcvtk (by @jonhusband) [Network type/size metrics not enuf. Also need user types!]
Wed May 27 17:11:38	Future is ChicagoNow http://bit.ly/66pg8 (by @pottsmark) [Only if it becomes full community vs just blogs. C: http://atlinsider.atlanta.net]
Wed May 27 16:55:33	Best, Worst & Future Email List-Growth Tactics \| "Mobile Capture, SocNet Sharing Rising Quickly" http://bit.ly/58czP [Key: Community! :-)]
Wed May 27 16:52:21	@johnstack @GeorgeDearing Consumers want 2b more social while workers want 2b more collaborative. Convergence will come: http://bit.ly/xP8WV
Wed May 27 16:48:04	@johnstack @GeorgeDearing IMHO, "Social Computing++" enabled by Web 2.0 while "Collaborative Computing++" enabled by #E20. Similar but diff.
Wed May 27 16:45:02	What Is NPV Of Social Networking? http://bit.ly/1ub0Tb (by @jderagon) [Wrong approach cuz no diff from email, phonecalls, T&E w/ customers!]
Wed May 27 16:38:14	Customer satisfaction still matters more than discounts http://tinyurl.com/ra92bd (via @MSretail) [Why community support/engagement is key!]
Wed May 27 16:28:03	Prime eg of integrated mktg/community site that Microsoft/Telligent/SpeakTech alliance http://bit.ly/6Akyi can deliver: http://bit.ly/QMDia
Wed May 27 16:19:19	Microsoft Announces Social Enterprise Alliance w/ @Telligent & @speakTECH for "best-of-all-worlds customer communities" http://bit.ly/6Akyi
Wed May 27 16:12:45	"To be successful, mktrs must utilize variety of channels 2create meaningful dialogue." http://bit.ly/ZOX70 (by @MariaBailey) [Agreed 110%]
Tue May 26 20:47:37	9 worst social media FAILs of 2009 http://bit.ly/622Dx (by @mediaphyter) [Whopper Sacrifice was FAIL for Facebook more so than Burger King!]
Tue May 26 19:02:37	@Bob_Thompson For lack of better term, I'm using "modern business life cycle" & #E20 as memes 4what orgs need 2do/2become in Web 2.0 era.
Tue May 26 19:00:27	@Bob_Thompson Not sure what right/best term is (yet), but I don't believe "social" is it based on my convos w/ many (big & small) orgs.
Tue May 26 17:15:06	Groundswell of Social Media Backlash http://bit.ly/vvutJ (by @olivermarks) [Tools will get abused. Hammers can kill vs just for nails. :-)]
Tue May 26 17:00:04	Online Brand Hijacking Worries 29.5% of Mkters http://bit.ly/qoTNz [Why brands must invest++ in online communities/ambassadors/advocates!]
Tue May 26 16:58:02	Amused w/ recent social media backlash (http://bit.ly/129aR3). I guess ppl realizing being social costs time esp w/ ever increasing noise.
Tue May 26 16:49:05	Beware Social Media Mktg Myths http://bit.ly/eQmZm (by @genemarks via @amandachapel) [Agreed: http://bit.ly/xP8WV & http://bit.ly/14MsBx]
Tue May 26 16:27:24	@bob_thompson Moreover, "social" much more impactful as mindset than tools. Hence, "social" prefix for biz & sw will be redundant in ~3 yrs.
Tue May 26 16:17:23	@bob_thompson IMHO, settling on "social business" is the true wimp out cuz it's just 1 aspect of modern biz life cycle: http://bit.ly/xP8WV
Tue May 26 03:30:16	California's total suckage in edu policy & schools (http://bit.ly/15aEMK) is a key reason why wife&I are hesitant 2move bk w/in nxt few yrs.
Tue May 26 00:40:18	Gr8 time @ Snoqualmie Falls! Postcard http://twitpic.com/5yo5n - Photosynths http://bit.ly/QzJed \| http://bit.ly/hpWay \| http://bit.ly/taV2G
Sun May 24 18:29:58	#3drunkwords Twitter demographics diversifying. :-)
Sun May 24 18:22:06	http://twitpic.com/5v2o5 - All 3 kids swinging on their own. Not long ago, they couldn't even get on the thing. How fast they've grown!
Fri May 22 23:54:15	SeaWorld commits brand suicide http://bit.ly/12tC7X (via @arrington) [Worth a self-RT cuz it just made my wkend! :-) Fake Authentic = FAIL]
Fri May 22 23:27:34	Final thought ahead of long holiday wkend: Analytics = Key to transforming community into marketplace. Overview: http://bit.ly/1560mP
Fri May 22 22:03:34	Is it me or do blog posts w/ >3 paragraphs seem just too long these days? Yeah, they really distract my continuous partial attention. :-)
Fri May 22 20:41:43	Ingenious! http://bit.ly/XGo1 -mktg that helps ppl assess who their Real friends r! Like Whopper Sacrifice campaign: http://bit.ly/1418As
Fri May 22 19:42:03	Do Friends Influence Purchases in Social Network? http://bit.ly/VTQ0N (via @RevzNexus) [V-enlightening. Must read! Why analytics r key++!]
Fri May 22 19:31:23	In case ur wondering why I say "Real Authentic" - cuz there's "Fake Authentic" (a.k.a. "Sponsored"). Learn the diff at http://bit.ly/azKvy
Fri May 22 19:22:42	How 2do mtkg at low cost w/ social media [via Real Authentic Convos & Interactions] http://bit.ly/AsXeQ (by @leeaase via @mattrhodes)
Fri May 22 19:06:25	#followfriday #followreco @mattrhodes @cosmond @helentr @hollyseddon -all at FreshNetworks -providing gr8 tips abt social media & community.
Fri May 22 18:59:18	Community champs, actives & trolls http://bit.ly/iSd5a (by @hollyseddon) [Gr8 tips but need analytics (http://bit.ly/QvsUB) 2ID user types.]
Fri May 22 18:51:29	Alternative to Sponsored Convos: Having Authentic/Real Convos w/ influencers & so-called social media publishers. Free & more powerful!:-)
Fri May 22 18:39:55	http://tweetingtoohard.com/top "where self-important tweets get the recognition they deserve" - LMAO hilarious!
Fri May 22 18:36:17	@tedmurphy "100% of Fortune 500 on my side" - congrats! But doesn't mean they see it as strategic. I prefer 2b where puck is going. :-)
Fri May 22 18:29:19	@tedmurphy "You need both" - no, orgs must focus on sustainable community strategy. Everything else is supplementary/optional/distraction.
Fri May 22 18:25:21	@tedmurphy Achieving strategic objectives r never easy. :-) That's why tactical shortcuts ("cop-out" too harsh, sorry) like urs r tempting.
Fri May 22 18:05:45	I'll say again: SEO & Sponsored Convos r tactical cop-outs. Use this audience model (http://bit.ly/GWhbB) 2make strategic mktg investments.
Fri May 22 18:01:52	@tedmurphy "search advertising a tactical cop out" - yup, IMHO, brands should strategically invest in "organic ranking" via SM/community.
Fri May 22 17:32:25	10 Ways Twitter Completely Changed Sales Proc http://bit.ly/lVqjt (by @pkitano) [No it's just a channel! Must integrate it w/ collab model.]
Fri May 22 17:27:43	Modern Business Technology Ecosystem http://twitpic.com/5pays - complements these biz needs http://bit.ly/xP8WV - blog post coming soon!
Fri May 22 17:24:59	10 Ways CIOs Can [no, must] Communicate IT Business Value http://bit.ly/sRqvR [If any CIOs don't alrdy know/do these, they should be fired!]
Fri May 22 17:18:32	IDC: Time 2Get Srs Abt #E20 http://bit.ly/OBkcD (via @oscarberg) Watch talkin head for 6.5 mins or just look at:http://twitpic.com/5pays :-)
Fri May 22 17:00:24	Twitter Literacy http://bit.ly/ss50b (by @hrheingold) ["Successful use of Twitter comes down to tuning and feeding." - spot on!]
Fri May 22 16:57:01	@tedmurphy Yes, mkters need 2do whatever it takes to boost their KPIs, but I'm calling out Sponsored Convos 4what they r:tactical cop-outs.
Fri May 22 16:44:29	Twitter's Search Engine Is Very, Very Broken http://bit.ly/WOnrq (by @louisgray) [Agreed! Which is why I'm doing this: http://bit.ly/12Z9VT]
Fri May 22 16:40:19	Anti-Starbucks filmmakers hijack coffee company's own Twitter mktg campaign http://tinyurl.com/pzp2zw (by @simonowens) [Lesson for brands!]
Fri May 22 16:30:24	Sponsored Conversations http://bit.ly/CPxSw (by @tedmurphy via @chrisbrogan) [IMHO, SCs r cop-out 4not cultivating brand's own influencers.]
Fri May 22 01:31:49	RT @HungerPledge: Thx @Telligent @lliu @georgedearing for helping the #HungerPledge - http://tr.im/trdlv [V-honored 2b part of this cause!]
Fri May 22 00:11:35	ROI From Twitter: "Don't bother telling your CFO" http://tinyurl.com/r3txl8 [V-bad advice! Say it's like email/IM - key is in how u use it.]

Nuggets from my May 15-21 2009 tweetstream

Lawrence Liu — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:14:24 GMT

Enjoy...

Thu May 21 23:55:11	Orgs don't need to worry about their Corporate Reputation (http://bit.ly/4wtph4) if they simply don't treat their employees like cattle. :-)
Thu May 21 23:30:32	#TED Talk: Mary Roach on 10 things you didn't know about orgasm http://bit.ly/HE4C0 [Enlightening & entertaining for EOD leisure time.]
Thu May 21 23:24:17	Managing Corporate Reputations http://bit.ly/4wtph4 (by @michelleconlin & @dmac1) [IMHO, ass bckwrds! How abt "Improving Org Health/Morale?]
Thu May 21 23:00:17	#TED Talk: Brian Greene on string theory http://bit.ly/12Vk2o [Well, another thing that the LHC may discover: extra dimensions beyond 3-D.]
Thu May 21 19:54:17	Why ppl still stuck on content creation issue (guidelines/policies/tools) when "puck" is movin towrd monitoring/targeting/filtering/ranking?
Thu May 21 19:36:59	@lehawes @GeorgeDearing @jessewilkins U lead by doing. MLK & Ghandi: true leaders who acted out their thoughts. Only then did ppl follow.
Thu May 21 17:54:11	@GeorgeDearing @davefleet Yes, "Be Smart" -but u can't do it unless u "Be Informed" & "Be Open & Respectful" -why analytics/metrics matter!
Thu May 21 17:31:52	@georgedearing @JGoldsborough But most orgs do need guidelnes: IBM http://bit.ly/EVQq \| Intel http://bit.ly/Lc2G7 \| CIPR http://bit.ly/qIrw9
Thu May 21 17:00:03	How can B2B services/apps benefit from integrating w/ networking platforms? http://bit.ly/hJ9uQ (by @eldon) [Affirms http://bit.ly/14MsBx]
Thu May 21 16:30:10	Not all millennials are millennials http://bit.ly/eFvcS (by @BillSheridan via @dahowlett) [IMHO most r, as r Boomers/GenXers. See #GenBlend]
Wed May 20 22:05:12	http://grouptweet.com [Kinda like an email DL. Affirms power of Twitter as open platform. Yet another feature Twitter should have built-in!]
Wed May 20 21:56:58	Experimental UI for large scale online discussion spaces by Srikanth Narayan http://bit.ly/11YP6S (via @marc_smith) [What FF, Twitter need!]
Wed May 20 21:35:52	It Takes More than Social Software to Become an #E20 Company http://bit.ly/15FzsG (by @yurial) [Agreed 110%: http://bit.ly/xP8WV]
Wed May 20 21:31:52	Hello, human: A Dialog With #WolframAlpha http://bit.ly/4Tevh (by @yurial) [Friggin brilliant!]
Wed May 20 18:44:54	@georgedearing @CathyWebSavvyPR @hubspot Re: social media releases vs traditional PR http://bit.ly/32i1NS - not either/or, must do both!
Wed May 20 18:38:16	Mktg Lessons From Worst Hotel In The World http://ow.ly/85eT (via @rohitbhargava) [Affirms that authenticity sells better than fakery.]
Wed May 20 18:34:49	Carl Bialik (WSJ "Numbers Guy") on Numeracy in journalism (http://bit.ly/4mYQc) [How2 intelligently report stats/studies/surveys/forecasts.]
Wed May 20 18:28:03	Popularity should never be confused w/ importance http://bit.ly/rKdHV [Filters/ranking help, but ultimately, u gotta decide for yourself!]
Wed May 20 18:16:00	How @Ogilvy uses Twitter: Follow, Create, Engage http://bit.ly/Bf6rS [Gr8 tips as part of holistic community strategy: http://bit.ly/14MsBx]
Wed May 20 18:09:31	IDC, EMC Total Up "Digital Universe" http://bit.ly/Yedzr [Jobs: Digital Astronomers/Cosmologists. Tools: Mining/Analytics/Filters/Ranking.]
Wed May 20 18:01:25	It's Not Info Overload; It's Filter Failure http://bit.ly/14KX7w (by @CShirky) [Agreed. Why cxns & context r needed to filter & rank info!]
Wed May 20 17:53:57	IMHO, #emailmarketing (http://ping.fm/FV1Nx by @StephanieSAM) needs to be revamped cuz socnets r now acting as filters. More thoughts soon!
Wed May 20 17:00:07	Another of my fav shootout scenes: Alicia Keys (that's right) + Barrett 50 cal = still hot even tho she ain't shootin it: http://bit.ly/xvnt
Tue May 19 23:30:02	#TED Talk: Benjamin Zander on music & passion http://bit.ly/tlu4B [Speechless. Just my shining eyes after this one. Gr8 way to end the day.]
Tue May 19 21:30:02	#TED Talk: Evelyn Glennie shows how to listen http://bit.ly/19PhTr [Profound & inspiring. Don't just listen - go feel & experience! Wow!]
Tue May 19 20:46:46	"Think abt what u can contribute, rather than what u can achieve." -Peter Drucker - ie, help others (colleagues/customers/partners) achieve!
Tue May 19 20:34:10	Only 2 sources of Comp Adv: 1)Ability 2learn more abt customers faster than others, 2)Ability 2turn learning into action faster - Jack Welch
Tue May 19 19:13:10	Comcast Boosts Customer Satisfaction by Tweeting http://bit.ly/hF150 [Expected result based on increased engagement. But not same as ROI.]
Tue May 19 18:31:57	CMO Council: Rebirth of Personalization http://bit.ly/nus9S (via @thestrategyweb) [Why network analysis & engagement analytics matter++!]
Tue May 19 18:19:25	Patrick Brandt joins Telligent as CEO; @robhoward now CTO http://bit.ly/1Eluo8 [V-excited 2have Rob focus on R&D while Patrick drives biz!]
Tue May 19 17:35:26	Survey Results: Online Community Platform & Services Satisfaction: Telligent, Jive, Lithium, etc. http://bit.ly/1SGM7P (by @billjohnston)
Tue May 19 17:29:23	Google Searches for Staffing Answers http://bit.ly/1TKx5 [From surveys? They should assess ppl on how they collaborate: http://bit.ly/5xfyQ]
Tue May 19 17:00:04	Study: When person is happy, nearby friends have +25% chance happy too. Ppl at socnet center tend 2b happier in future. http://bit.ly/crQVp
Tue May 19 16:40:02	Beatboxing Flute Sesame Street http://bit.ly/1a9bFA [Hear it to believe it! Then listen to Flight of the Bumblebee: http://bit.ly/iAxu6]
Tue May 19 16:30:03	Julia Dales wins inaugural Beatbox Battle Online World Championship http://bit.ly/GoTji [Amazing what human voice can do! Close ur eyes.]
Mon May 18 21:21:16	Laid-Off Employees Promote Change Via Old Biz Cards http://bit.ly/LRUAV [Huh? Want real change? Stop doodling & go do something real.]
Mon May 18 20:07:48	Why Twitter Won't Change Marketing http://bit.ly/xLinD (by @willakerlof) [No, Web 2.0 is changing mrkting. Twitter just part of Web 2.0.]
Mon May 18 18:41:46	10 Tips for Building Brand Communities http://bit.ly/YoeVw (via @guykawasaki) [Gr8 pts except wrong attribution for http://90-9-1.com rule.]
Mon May 18 18:20:35	@mattredlon @novaspivack Stream is an enabler, a means. Net Analytics needed to filter & rank The Stream to make it My Stream = end.
Mon May 18 18:13:27	Survey: C-Level Execs Top Priorities 4next 12-18 months http://bit.ly/VP3Xn - customer acq/retention, improve mrkting ROI, products/svcs++.
Mon May 18 17:33:29	Ppl hyping up "The Stream" (http://bit.ly/10jHnA - sorry @novaspivack) when real dope is Network Analytics: http://socialgraphsymposium.com
Mon May 18 17:00:09	http://juvenation.org (via @boblaskey) -reminds me of http://nbcf.org & http://myAlli.com -all pwr'd by Telligent - #pharma socnets FTW! :-)
Sun May 17 21:45:59	Sophia (7yo) finally free riding her bike! Just in time for summer. Joseph did it at 4yo. Isabel will probably do it around 6yo to keep up.
Sat May 16 23:32:02	What I think makes a man? His eyes/attention. If I'm looking directly & intently at u, I'm ur man 4 as long as I do. :-)
Sat May 16 23:18:23	Just stuck my foot in mouth by saying 2several filipinas, "A purse doesn't make a woman, her (authentic) smile does." So, what makes a man?
Sat May 16 19:25:09	Jeff Bezos, meet Tony Hsieh. @Zappos Expands http://bit.ly/r7oBr [Luv seeing David vs Goliath, esp when David is Asian dude like me! :-)]
Sat May 16 18:40:22	Game Web 2.Over? http://ff.im/-2XaBK [No, we're now in post-season & wannabes didn't make thru 1st&2nd rounds. Fun 2see S16&F4 playout.]
Sat May 16 18:32:16	Rise Of Social Distrib Nets http://ff.im/-2X7 [@georgedearing keeps linking gr8 wkend reads like this even tho I wish he'd wait til Monday.]
Sat May 16 18:02:57	#wolframalpha missing huge opportunity to enable users to learn from each other. To bad Dr. Wolfram wants 2b HAL9000 instead of Ghandi 2.0.
Sat May 16 17:59:26	If #wolframalpha doesn't enable/leverage network/collab effects, it'll be nothing more than a calc/almanac 2.0 & encyclopedia 2.5.
Sat May 16 17:45:53	Wish #wolframalpha would tell me: "Ppl who asked this Q also asked these Qs" so I can do anonymous intellectual circle jerk w/ other geeks.
Sat May 16 17:39:56	Twitter's Real-Time Uselessness Proven by (Mistaken) Gay Marriage Hysteria http://bit.ly/aYwsR [Yup, Twitter amplifies stupidity/ignorance.]
Sat May 16 15:40:01	2nd #wolframalpha Q: "temperature of sun" http://bit.ly/VimsC -much better, but besides intellectual masturbation, what's this good for? :-)
Sat May 16 15:30:01	1st #wolframalpha Q: "what is 1000000th decimal digit of pi" http://bit.ly/dK4h4 -not exactly result I wanted. Google: http://bit.ly/vE6pZ
Sat May 16 00:33:07	@2healthguru "We need social networks" - that's like saying "We need hammer even tho we don't know or can't see the nails." :-) #C20
Fri May 15 17:28:35	"I Lived Through the Depression: This Ain't Nothing!" http://bit.ly/13m3zR [Fav line: "The community was key." Key: Communal, no social.]
Fri May 15 16:09:40	Year of shift to #E20: http://bit.ly/11gP0r (by @dhinchcliffe) [IMHO, orgs now know what/why but need help w/ how/when/where & what's next.]
Fri May 15 00:54:47	Dell CMO on Design/Innovation http://bit.ly/teGH9 "Our crown jewel is online exp. Need to be authentic. Go where convos are happening."
Fri May 15 00:39:35	V-honored 2b on blogroll of @rww Community Mgmt Aggregator http://bit.ly/19ZaQD - access included w/ $299 Guide: http://bit.ly/rwwreport1

My social media data flow is just like Louis Gray’s, and the importance of taking an “omni media” approach

Lawrence Liu — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:43:47 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, Louis Gray blogged about how to “Know and Master Your Social Media Data Flow” and showed the following diagram:

It resembles my own social media data flow with just a few slight differences:

I use Diigo as my bookmarking tool (and I highly recommend it) rather than Delicious.
I rarely use FriendFeed (due to lack of time rather than lack of want), so my 2-way arrow between FriendFeed and Twitter has a much bigger head pointing in FriendFeed’s direction.
I don’t use FeedBlitz though after looking at it, I probably should.

Otherwise, my SM data flow is just like Louis’s. The primary benefit for me is that my content is exposed to various people on the networks or social media channel that they happen to be on. For instance, my “friends” on Facebook see my tweets (though many of whom probably would prefer not to, but they can filter me out if they like) without having to use Twitter. People, who subscribe to my blog, see just “Nuggets from my Tweetstream” posts instead of being overwhelmed by my entire tweetstream. And the crazies, who are stalking my every move, can monitor my FriendFeed stream, which is the “fire hose” through which practically all of my online activities are aggregated.

I’m highlighting all of this info as a blog entry because I’ve frequently tweeted about the importance of taking an “omni media” approach, and due to Twitter’s Search Suckage and 140 character limitation, I figured that it would be much easier to find and more effective to refer to this post later than finding and referencing one of my tweets like the one below:

By taking an “omni media” approach coupled with a community-to-network integration strategy, you can reach a much broader set of audiences than any particular media channel, social or otherwise, by itself. Hence, although a recent study revealed that “Young adults (18-24 years old) haven't warmed up to Twitter,” you need not worry because while only 22% surveyed use Twitter, a whopping 99% of them belong to social networks.

The true value of Enterprise 2.0 tools for CXOs: Understanding what the f*ck is really happening inside your company! :-)

Lawrence Liu — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:27:42 GMT

That’s right, I said it. After seeing the recent survey of C-level execs top priorities for next 12-18 months and reading about Microsoft’s annual CEO Summit happening this week, I wonder how many CEOs and C-level execs, especially in relatively large organizations (i.e. with 5000 or more employees), are asking themselves and anyone they can strangle, “What the f*ck is happening inside my company?!” On the surface, what’s happening is that not enough is happening: it’s taking too long to respond to customers, it’s taking too long to develop new products and enhancements, it’s taking too long to establish strategic partnerships, and it’s taking too long to find out what the f*ck is really happening inside one’s company.

Admittedly, I don’t have all the answers, but I’m very excited to be part of a company that’s making substantial R&D investments in tools and techniques to address these questions. And a research article “Managing information sharing within an organizational setting: A social network perspective” co-authored by John-Paul Hatala of Flowork International and published in January 2009 offers a concise model and straightforward approach for assessing organizational effectiveness based on patterns of information sharing within groups and between groups. JP was kind enough to send me a free review copy and gave me permission to post a few excerpts.

The Model

The two columns in the diagram represent whether information sharing occurs or does not occur within a group, and the two rows represent whether information sharing is occurring or not occurring between two or more groups:

Column 1: Optimal information sharing within a work group
Column 2: Minimal information sharing within a work group
Row 1: Optimal information sharing between work groups
Row 2: Minimal information sharing between work groups

The Approach

There is a high level of density within and between work groups in the upper left quadrant. This is the ideal quadrant for an organization to be situated. Information is exchanged often and freely, as the culture of the organization supports the concept of information as a tool-one that is used to accomplish the organization’s mission, vision, and strategic direction. A high level of connectivity exists among all organizational work group members. The organization has social support mechanisms in place that promote information sharing and knowledge management.
The upper right quadrant involves a high level of density between groups within an organization but not within a group. The number of groups is not limited to two, and the desired density level is based on the information sharing required for optimal performance. Access to information across groups, departments, units, and divisions is promoted and carried out. However, information sharing within a group is limited. For example, managers are effectively communicating within their own work groups but fail to share information among other managers. The culture of this type of organization is likely to view information as power, and thus individuals feel compelled to suppress access to information so that their personal agend as can be furthered.
In the lower left quadrant, information sharing between groups is minimal. Organizational or departmental silos are likely the norm, and although information may flow freely within groups, it is not shared within the organization. This organizational culture and communication patterns are likely to be task focused. For example, someone might say, “I only speak with engineers.” This is not necessarily a derogatory statement, but rather may reflect the attitude that “only engineers understand my issues so that is who I communicate with.” This style can be effective in traditional linear processes, but even within this type of operations, this style leads to lost improvement opportunities.
In the bottom right quadrant, the organization as a whole has little connectivity, is minimally dense, and is drifting apart-hence, the descriptive term entropy characterizes this. Information is not shared freely and is not easily accessible; thus, little to none of the potential of the organization is achieved. It can be expected that without change, the organization will face extreme challenges. In this type of organization, it is difficult to introduce planned organizational change since the level of resistance will typically be high. Knowledge management as a strategy for managing change and obtaining competitive advantage is not developed.

Next Step

So, where does your organization stand on the diagram? You have no f*cking idea, do you? :-) Don’t fret because most people don’t have any clue either their respective organizations. And that’s the key question Enterprise 2.0 tools like Telligent’s Community Server Evolution and Harvest Reporting Server can help answer. If the model and approach described above make sense to you and you’d like to find out more about how to utilize them to assess your organization’s effectiveness, please ping JP on Twitter (http://twitter.com/jphatala) or visit his company’s website (http://socialnetworkaudit.com).

Why am I posting nuggets from my tweetstream on my blog? To avoid Twitter Search suckage! And you can, too!

Lawrence Liu — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:05:00 GMT

I use Twitter both as an online journal for my thoughts, ideas, and activities and as a medium for connecting and interacting with people, who have common interests as I do. While the tweetstream and more generally “The Stream” are getting hyped up as the Next.Big.Thing, the current problem is that Twitter Search (on Twitter or Google or anywhere else) just plain sucks because I can’t reliably find a tweet in my tweetstream that’s older than a week.

So, I’ve taken it upon myself to essentially create my own easily searchable archive of interesting tweets from my tweestream by taking the following steps:

Fetch backup of recent tweets via http://tweetake.com
Import .CSV file directly into Excel 2007
- Delete unwanted tweets
- Insert a column after J (see screenshot below – click to enlarge) and then add hyperlinks to tweets by using the following equation:
  - =HYPERLINK(CONCATENATE("http://twitter.com/LLiu/status/",TEXT(B2,0)),TEXT(LEFT(J2,19),0))
Post the table of tweets to blog – here’s an example.

Now, the blog entries are indexed by Google and other search engines, which are much more reliable than Twitter Search. So, if someone, which is really most people aside from the few who are stalking me :-), misses an interesting tweet from me in their Stream, they can easily find it on my blog. Also, by repurposing nuggets from my tweestream on my blog, I’m creating potentially new value with the content (and the time I spent composing it) in a different social media channel, the blogosphere, which reinforces the “omni media” approach to communicating and evangelizing that I keep talking about:

Here’s the perfect example: I can no longer find the actual tweet screenshot’d above, and I really need to. Like I said, Twitter Search sucks!

Update: FriendFeed may be a viable alternative, but it's not great. For instance, I found a copy of the above tweet only because I had setup import of my tweetstream into FriendFeed a long time ago, but it doesn't have a link to my original tweet. WTF?!

Update 2: Found "The Archivist" tool, which may be another viable alternative. Here's a description of what it does: "The Archivist is a Windows application that runs on your local system and allows you to archive tweets for later data-mining and analysis for a given search. The Archivist allows you to start a search and will get as many results as it can on the initial search. If you leave The Archivist open, it will update with the latest results every 10 minutes. You can also close The Archivist and open it later. The Archivist will save the tweets and get all the tweets it can since that search. The Archivist will display a chart that shows the number of tweets per day for a given search, so that you can quickly assess traffic for a given search. For more comprehensive data analysis, The Archivist lets you export Tweets to Excel. It also natively saves tweets in an XML format, which could also be parsed for deeper data analysis."

Nuggets from my May 8-14 2009 tweetstream

Lawrence Liu — Mon, 18 May 2009 06:55:30 GMT

Enjoy...

Thu May 14 22:59:56	Telligent showcase: U of Chicago "Defining Wisdom" Initiative http://bit.ly/F5a4X [What is ur org using to define/capture/share wisdom? :-)]
Thu May 14 22:23:20	Nugget:Community can be planned but not completely managed. Knowledge can be shared & synthesized but not completely captured or managed.
Thu May 14 22:18:54	@moehlert "20 yrs in field" = "20 yrs of experience" != expert. Publishing a peer reviewed & accepted paper doesn't make u an expert either.
Thu May 14 22:17:18	@moehlert "Someone works in field for 20 yrs but never publish - an expert?" - no one's truly an expert cuz there's always someone smarter.
Thu May 14 21:52:37	ReadWriteWeb Guide to Online Community Management http://bit.ly/rwwreport1 (Only $299 & includes a quote by me, so it must be good. :-)]
Thu May 14 21:43:53	De-anonymizing Social Networks http://bit.ly/tJZWW (by @random_walker) [IMHO, forget "privacy protection", think "publicity mediation".]
Thu May 14 21:40:44	Your Commute is Unique: Anonymity [not?] of Home/Work Location Pairs http://bit.ly/2SGO6 (by @random_walker) [Lengthy but intriguing read.]
Thu May 14 21:33:15	While lots of vendors fight over where puck is/was, @marc_smith & @telligent r working w/ others on where it will be - http://bit.ly/19PKZj
Thu May 14 21:25:23	Distinguishing Knowledge vs Social Capital in Social Media w/ Roles & Context http://bit.ly/OiVsI - ICWSM 2009 paper co-a'd by @marc_smith
Thu May 14 21:12:58	Twitter analytics: Which usage behavior attracts many followers? http://bit.ly/CYzkR (by @lifeanalytics) [Keys: Bio info, links, frequency.]
Thu May 14 20:33:38	Must read: @gladwell vs @sportsguy33 re: Outliers (the book/thesis) & other v-entertaining topics - http://bit.ly/KZ3wu
Thu May 14 20:09:17	"No, you do not truly know someone until you fight them." - Serif in Matrix 2 [How so true for both personal & professional relationships!]
Thu May 14 17:52:36	Session summaries & video clips (no complete ones?!) from #C20 conf posted at http://bit.ly/4AzUOw by @community20. Wish I had been there.
Thu May 14 17:30:03	"Why don't you sample this instead?!" - Trinity to Persephone http://twitpic.com/55qhx [Sigh, why oh why didn't they just oil wrestle? :-)]
Thu May 14 17:15:04	"Dodge this!" - Trinity http://twitpic.com/55qba [Yes, I have a huge crush on her. And I'm sure you do, too.] (Don't even start, @bfox11b!)
Thu May 14 16:56:14	Understanding your customer isn't enough http://bit.ly/1b8QL8 [Well, duh! It's called a "use case" which is as important as a "persona".]
Thu May 14 16:38:11	"Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those who without." - The Merovingian in Matrix 2 [Love this line! :-)]
Thu May 14 16:31:33	"Marketing is a Tax You Pay for Being Unremarkable" http://bit.ly/16S0mz - gr8 preso by Robert Stephens, CEO of Geek Squad (via @sernovitz)
Wed May 13 18:00:05	Survey: 84% of F500 CCOs say social media = top "ally" in 2009 http://bit.ly/11xxRd (via @georgedearing) [From the desk of Captain Obvious?]
Wed May 13 17:30:09	Why Didn't RSS/PubSub Become Twitter? http://bit.ly/vPq7i [Easy, RSS is 1-way; Twitter API is 2-way, essentially a Web 2.0 ver of NNTP.]
Wed May 13 17:19:52	For the non-believers, my "Naming guidelines for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007" blog entry, dated 03/22/06 - http://bit.ly/SoPcz
Wed May 13 17:14:45	Community vs Marketing http://bit.ly/16TTQ1 [This pt I made almost 3 yrs ago is even more true today tho lots of ppl have forgotten it.]
Wed May 13 17:10:03	Trivia: MS Brand police pushed back hard against MOSS to which I responded, "Don't worry. It'll grow on people over time."
Wed May 13 17:08:02	Trivia: OSS was MS internal acronym for SharePoint Server 2007 until I alerted ppl that it stood for something else: http://bit.ly/IJ0tK :-)
Wed May 13 17:00:03	Case study: Microsoft's private online community for CIOs - 1100 members & growing - pwr'd by Telligent - http://bit.ly/kHntW
Wed May 13 16:58:36	SharePoint "14" is now Microsoft SharePoint 2010 http://bit.ly/rRdox [Farewell MOSS, the acronym I coined. I hereby suggest MS SPS 2010 :-)]
Tue May 12 23:05:44	Social Media Engagement: From Buzz to Benefit http://bit.ly/14qfco (by @ellagantz w/ Organic slideshare) [Gd pts w/ relevant case studies.]
Tue May 12 22:24:52	Forrester: Interactive Mktg To Grow 11% To $25.6 Billion in '09 http://bit.ly/NXt8F [During worst recession year since Depression? Yay! :-)]
Tue May 12 22:21:36	How to Use Social Technology in Pharma Mktg http://bit.ly/19kIBb (by @jbernoff) [IMHO, http://myAlli.com is prime example of success. :-)]
Tue May 12 22:06:28	"No such thing as B2B, it's biz to community" says Niel Nickolaisen, CIO of Headwaters. http://is.gd/zdzD [Wrong! Why: http://bit.ly/xP8WV]
Mon May 11 19:00:06	Universe's most stately & photogenic galaxy (aside from ours), "Sombrero" M104, photographed by Hubble Space Telescope: http://bit.ly/13eIcg
Mon May 11 18:42:02	4 stages of avg Twitter user http://bit.ly/SWKbS (by @jasonhiner) [Yup, I've gone thru these myself. Now at Stage5: Blogging My Tweets. :-)]
Mon May 11 18:10:02	40 Useful & Creative Infographics http://digg.com/d1qqKg (by @jggube) [I'm sure at least 1 is relevant to u & worth printing out in color.]
Mon May 11 17:50:02	Ballmer Says Now is Time for Entrepreneurs http://bit.ly/GdTBS (by @madlid) [Gr8 talk w/ Q&A. Too bad so much bizmodel inertia inside MS.]
Mon May 11 17:46:43	#TED talk by Seth Godin: Why tribes, not money or factories, will change the world http://bit.ly/4rUeLF [IOW, team-community-network model.]
Mon May 11 17:33:29	Susan Boyle: Lesson in Talent Mgmt http://bit.ly/EAjvQ (via @WinWebDave) [Social analytics & Insights Profile http://bit.ly/BGJqv can help.]
Mon May 11 17:30:08	Jakob Nielsen Critiques Twitter http://bit.ly/ONzfQ (stats) [Good reality check against #twitterprise hype. As w/ any tool, use as appropt.]
Mon May 11 17:15:02	Starting a Corporate Social Network? Don't http://bit.ly/ul0Zu (by @stevebaker) [IMHO, v-bad advice. Answer should be "Know why first."
Mon May 11 17:12:07	"Blue Ocean Strategy" http://bit.ly/W9IwZ (via @mwherman2000) [My take: Just figure out & go to where puck will be vs where it is now. :-)]
Mon May 11 17:07:45	Progression of Social Media? http://bit.ly/5xmp2 (by @jderagon) [Too simplistic/narrow. @jowyang's model http://bit.ly/QJ7LB = big picture.]
Mon May 11 17:00:07	http://startwiththeanswer.com - Intriguing but I don't have time to read it. I wonder how it's any diff from Vision/Scope/Approach method.
Sun May 10 18:34:07	Today's 2nd Reading: "Let us love not in words or speech but in deed or trust." from 1 John 3:18-24. Thanks be to God. Happy Mother's Day!
Sat May 09 00:30:09	Google's "We're Not A Monopoly" Presentation http://bit.ly/K5090 [I don't think Google's a monopoly but they sure resemble MS in some ways.]
Fri May 08 20:41:11	Bar-bet phenomenon: increasing diversity in mobile searches http://bit.ly/PkRY3 (by Google Research) [Must admit I use my smartphone a lot!]
Fri May 08 19:00:32	@moyalynne NP. I take effort to find author's Twitter ID & add my comment cuz that's how I'd like others to RT my tweets. :-)
Fri May 08 18:53:38	#Gov20: The Challenge. The Opportunity. The Future http://bit.ly/FeWdY(by @moyalynne) [Insightful. Inspiring. So much to think about & do!]
Fri May 08 17:02:03	AA = "as appropriate" in my prev tweet. Microsoft ppl would know that but others might not. :-)
Fri May 08 17:00:08	When Will E-Commerce Become E-Community? http://bit.ly/YZhcF (by @bobpearson1845) [I hope never tho they should have seamless intgrtion AA.]
Fri May 08 16:57:53	12 Rules For Bringing "Social" To Your Biz http://bit.ly/EIfei (by @dhinchcliffe) [Gr8 pts! Y I'm so adamant abt: Social Biz != Biz^Social]

PR and marketing audiences in the modern business life cycle

Lawrence Liu — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:22:40 GMT

Todd Defren’s “Audience Targeting in Social Media” blog entry compelled me to finish my own post on the topic that’s been stuck in my Drafts folder for the past few months.

In the modern business life cycle of the Web 2.0 era, people are much more connected in breadth and depth with each other as well as with the things that they care about than ever before. PR and marketing professionals can no longer rely on the megaphone approach to communicate and amplify their message. They must leverage the positive network effects inherit in online communities and social media. But you’ve already heard that numerous times from Captain Obvious, right? :-) If so, then I hope that I can enlighten you by asserting that your ultimate success is not primarily dependent on the use of the tools but on your approach and objectives in dealing with different audience segments. Here’s a high level model of the audience pyramid that I’ve used for the past several years.

If you want other people to amplify your message in a contextual and credible way, then you must allocate sufficient time and budget to establish and sustain programs such as Advisory Councils, Most Valuable Professionals, or Board of the Future for your elite customers and partners. Your goal with this audience is to achieve and maintain a shared vision for the business problem(s) that you’re collectively trying to solve. The next audience on which you must focus are the Influentials, which include relevant analysts, press, and pundits in your industry. But you must not ignore the champions, who advocate your vision and evangelize your products and services. Your goal with the Influentials audience is to achieve and maintain an aligned vision. If you are successful in engaging in an ongoing manner with these two audiences, which is likely just 1-3% of your overall addressable audience size, the rest will be very easy.

And the rest of the chart above should be self-explanatory, I hope. If not, feel free to leave any questions as a comment here or ping me on Twitter.

Charting Enterprise 2.0 from 2007 to 2009, Dion Hinchcliffe style!

Lawrence Liu — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:49:06 GMT

I don’t know if Dion gets any creative design help for the charts in his blog entries, but I always look forward to seeing them. Here are my favorites (in logical order from my perspective) that are worth at least a thousand words on my or anyone else’s blog.

Build your own community or go where people already are? Do both and integrate!

Lawrence Liu — Fri, 15 May 2009 05:38:00 GMT

I just read Matt Rhode’s “Build your own community or go where people are? Do both” blog entry and was compelled to add to it with my own blog entry beyond just my usual retweet gesture because this issue has become an FAQ lately for many organizations I’ve talked to. My answer is not just to do both but to integrate as well. The Telligent customer showcase for the Orthodox Christian Fellowship community provides a prime example of the benefits for both members (seamless user experience) as well as the organization (membership growth).

The reason why there is a growing need to integrate brand communities with social (and professional) networks should be obvious – it’s because the networks are growing exponentially faster than any brand community. So, organizations can continue to invest in and depend on the typically low conversation rates of SEO and direct marketing to attract people to their communities, or they can leverage the connections that people have in the various networks.

So why not just create a community in those networks, be it a brand page on Facebook or a group on LinkedIn? Because there’s a continuum of connections, contexts, and interactions along with the need to measure and analyze them that the networks cannot effectively accommodate, but a community platform like Telligent’s can. Here’s a model that I recently introduced in my “Being "social" is just one aspect of the modern business life cycle” blog entry.

Every organization has a goal of cultivating business relationships to the point where teams of people with strong ties can work together to achieve one or more objectives. One of the most effective ways to build a strong team is to select people from communities of interest or practice, where members have weak ties that are relevant to or aligned with the objective, rather than from a rigid structure of command or seniority where people have zero, irrelevant, or misaligned ties. That’s why it has become business critical for so many organizations to establish, grow, and sustain communities of employees, customers, and partners.

The typical community life cycle has 3 key steps related to growing and optimizing community membership:

Attracting new members
Identifying MVPs and/or influencers
Setup teams and/or special interest groups to optimize members’ attention

At the beginning of the Grow phase in the community life cycle shown above, social and professional networks provide an abundance of potential members to attract. About 1/2 or 2/3 into the Grow phase, there should be enough members and activities to identify MVPs and influencers using metrics and analytics that the networks don’t or can’t provide. Lastly, to ensure smooth sailing toward the Transition phase, groups will need to be setup to accommodate the needs of people, who have established strong ties with each other within the community. The flexibility (branding, content filtering, security roles, etc.) needed for these groups are not available on the networks. Setting up these groups doesn’t need to wait until the latter half of the Sustain/Renew phase, but that’s the last point in the life cycle to do so in order to prevent people from leaving the community due to “too much noise.”

So, in conclusion, to be successful in the modern business life cycle of the Web 2.0 era, you must implement your own community as well as integrate it with the appropriate networks.

How the SharePoint community evolved into a vibrant, self-sustainable "tribe"

Lawrence Liu — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:58:00 GMT

A couple of things caught my attention during the past week.

Community Self-Sustainability

First, it was Joel Oleson’s “SharePoint Community Evolution” blog entry, which highlights some of the key reasons for why the SharePoint community continues to flourish and grow even in the absence of an official SharePoint Community Leader, a role that Microsoft has not backfilled since I left last October. These reasons include:

Social networking and micro-conversations, primarily via Twitter (see @SharePoint, @SharePointMVPs, and SharePoint mentions)
SharePoint MVPs stepping up as community leaders
SharePoint Saturday grassroots unconferences
SharePoint Best Practices conferences, organized by SharePoint MVPs
SharePoint user groups, many of which are shepherded by the International SharePoint Professionals Association

I’m heartened to see this level of self-sustainability within the SharePoint community because that was my ultimate objective from the beginning when I had accepted the job in August 2005. In September 2006, I posted the “Community vs. Marketing” blog entry, which described my approach toward community building:

“My job is to improve the various channels and modes of communication for anyone who wants to interact with someone else about SharePoint. That’s the key difference between community (omnidirectional) and marketing (unidirectional).”

Although “working myself out of the job” wasn’t part of my objectives, I had a feeling that it would be a likely consequence of my success. Here’s why (from a slidedeck that I frequently present to prospective customers):

When I started, the SharePoint community (at least from Microsoft’s standpoint) was in between the Plan and Startup phases of its life cycle. Today, the community is on the verge of the Transition phase, during which the de facto leaders and influencers in the community (i.e. SharePoint MVPs and standouts) take on or get delegated stewardship responsibilities. As the next version of SharePoint gets closer to release, the community will go through the Iterate phase, during which Microsoft’s role will increase from where it is today but not necessarily back to the level that it had during the Grow and Sustain phases of the life cycle, and that’s a very good thing because:

Microsoft’s community related expenses (especially in terms of dedicated human resources) are less.
Community leaders and influencers continue to be empowered to provide stewardship, which they strongly desire.

I strongly believe that every product centric community goes through a similar life cycle, and that every organization must plan and budget appropriately to get the community through its initial growth hump, which for SharePoint took about 2 years, in order to reap the rewards of a self-sustaining community.

Tribes Can Change the World

The second thing that caught my attention during the past week was Seth Godin’s TED Talk from February 2009, in which he:

Argues that the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: the tribe. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us to do so.

And I believe that that’s exactly what has happened to the SharePoint community – it has become a tribe. Some may call it a nation, and others may think of a large group, but fundamentally, it’s a tribe. To learn more about how to harness the power of tribes to change your world (however small or large it may be), I strongly recommend a reading of Seth’s “Tribes” book along with the useful content linked from this page. If you're just interested in tactics for building a successful community, one that is vibrant and self-sustainable, then go directly to this list of almost 100 online and ofline tactics for building a tribe.