Where Social Networking succeeds ... and fails
Mat Newman February 15 2010 21:52:08
Today, I felt compelled to write an article on Social Networking - specifically, where it succeeds and where it fails.I read Ed Brill's post today about The ongoing challenge of striking balance. I found it incredible that anyone would accuse Ed of NOT "... teach[ing] them about your products. Give tips, tricks, techniques, suggestions. Take questions. Give something away. Help people.".
The thing I found interesting about Ed's post was - in my opinion - his appropriate response to another commentators views on the "social" side of "Social Networking". I follow Ed on twitter, I've connected with him on LinkedIn and I read his blog. I have never spent any significant time with Ed Brill personally, beyond attending breakfasts and user group meetings during his occasional visit's down under, or a chance meeting during Lotusphere when he's not surrounded by others also wanting to chat with him.
As someone who feels the need to know what is going on in the Yellowverse, I find Ed's articles, posts, comments and Tweets informative and engaging. That Ed takes the time to write (especially on Twitter) about the other events and happenings in his life - and that I can easily access that information - is a benefit provided by Social Networking that enables exposure to an identity that just 5 years ago would not have been possible. What I have learnt about Ed while reading the "other" comments is that Ed is obviously a passionate person, whether it's about Lotus software, family, or his local community. I actually find that information comforting and invaluable. I LIKE that an obviously passionate person is in charge of the software that I have built my career and professional reputation upon.
Where Social Networking Succeeds
I use WildFire, it's a Lotus Notes side-bar plug in developed in-house that allows me to post to and consume feeds from Social Networks. Early this afternoon I read a post that interested me from LotusEnergisers and I followed the link in the post (I'm using the wildfire cache here to re-post into this blog entry)
| LotusEnergizers Working mum @momwhoworks1 laments her XBox 360 support experience and marvels at IBM Lotus [blog] http://bit.ly/bTfH9u Feb 15, 2010 2:11:20 PM from HootSuite |
At the other end of the link was a blog post from a user praising her treatment after writing about her frustrations while "attempting" to use Lotus Notes. Refer above, specifically "Help people.":
[Quote 1:]
I recently posted about how my new employer uses Lotus Notes and my frustration with the To Do function of Notes. Okay, I’m being kind to myself, I was pretty adamant about how much Lotus Notes sucks. And to my surprise and amazement (thank you Google!), I received a comment from Ed Brill, the person at IBM in charge of Lotus Notes. How cool is that?
Ed and I corresponded back and forth about the issues I was having with the To Do function, and how it couldn’t do what I wanted it to do. He engaged in conversation, he listened, he didn’t get defensive, he truly wanted to help and figure out why I was frustrated with his product. Needless to say, I was very, very impressed with Ed and a culture at IBM that would cultivate someone at that level to engage with a lowly little user like me and my little blog. [original link]
I don't know about you, but that looks like Ed taking the time to help someone.
Intrigued, I browsed the blog to find the post that prompted the entry. No surprises there, another user writing of their frustration while using Notes - and most distressing; claims that basic functionality was missing from the Notes software. In this case:
[Quote 2:]
"To give you just a small flavor for how much Lotus Notes SUCKS – it can’t print out a task list. I’m dead serious." [Link]
AND HERE'S WHERE SOCIAL SOFTWARE SUCCEEDS
Ed "pinged" Twitter and got the following:
- Just learned something new about my own product - even Notes 8.5 does not appear to have the ability to print a to-do list. Am I missing it? 10:03 AM Feb 11th from web
- @graemehuttley @John_Lance aha, print- selected view, or print from calendar. 10:10 AM Feb 11th from web
- Well that's good news, there is a way to print the to-do list view and also a calendar printing style just for to-do lists. 10:12 AM Feb 11th from web
The tweets from Ed's followers obviously helped him resolve momwhowork's problem, that's a community in action, and a great example of where Social Networking succeeds.
Now the flip side:
Where Social Networking Fails
Ed is an example of someone I follow that I feel ads something to my knowledge of what is happening in the Yellowverse. The list of people I follow includes many individuals that I have found who constantly Tweet or Blog about Lotus software and who's views and opinions I respect. The draw back to some social sites (and obviously one of the advantages from a personal perspective) is that you choose who you follow, are friends with, or are linked to.
In the last couple of weeks I had the opportunity to help someone I follow - as Ed used his network above - to answer a question. So, Mat being Mat, I did.
In the first instance, my advice obviously went unnoticed. I didn't think much of it, until the second opportunity arose. After taking the time to write a quick blog post with detailed steps to resolve the issue, and then tweeting the link to my advice, I then realised that the person I was helping didn't follow me and would not have seen my post. So after a quick investigation, I found an email address, and sent a summary and the previously mentioned link.
Now, if I hadn't have realised that the person I was helping wasn't following me - what potentially could have happened to my attempt at assistance?
How many people express frustrations, or post questions, not realising that they are being assisted?
Sure, there are tools available within social networks that you can click (eg: @matnewman on Twitter) that display those responses, but who knows that those tools are there, or even use them?
The direct equivalent is the user who didn't know you could print your To-do list from within Notes (yes, of course you CAN - you can print ANY list from Notes view!), do they also know they can ask a question and then click in the right place to see the answer?
So is Social Networking good, or bad?
Many of my colleagues, associates and friends don't understand what tools like Twitter and Facebook can allow you to do or why you would use them. Obviously, from my examples above it's easy to site reasons why Social Networking tools might be viewed as a waste of time. In addition, there is the extraneous stuff that is often viewed as irrelevant "washing my car now", or "getting on a plane".
But you know what! It's often the little stuff that's interesting, and the opportunity to connect to, interact with and assist people is why I personally will continue to use Social Networking sites.
Oh - and if there is something you think Notes can't do, feel free to ask me. We've just built in a feature that lets my Social Networking plug-in notify me directly any time someone mentions my handle ( @matnewman ), so I won't miss it.
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