Socialtext: “Social Networking with Enterprise 2.0 Collaboration”

In my last post I wrote about a couple of social media tools that companies are using today to help make collaboration in the workplace easier.  This post will focus on Socialtext, a company that uses these social networking and wiki technologies to help organizations collaborate more effectively.

 

Socialtext was founded in Palo Alto, CA with the vision of creating a new social context that offers far better social dynamics for the people working within organizations.  The company’s most highly regarded product is Socialtext Workspace, which was the first enterprise wiki.  This product not only fights against information overload for their customers, but also gives each company a solid foundation to expand their vision for a social software platform.

 

Tied in closely with the wiki was the ability for users to hold conversations through a unique blogging capability.  This function was designed specifically for collaboration within the organization.  Each user is given the ability to set their personal filters to match their individual interests and priorities.  This is also available for teams to use so customers can prioritize at both the individual and group level without being inundated with information that they do not need or want.

 

Along with Socialtext Workspace is Socialtext Unplugged, a tool that allows users of the wiki to access the information on the wiki when they are offline.  Below is a short video describing this cutting-edge tool in an interesting way. 

 

 

The company recently completed its creation of a social messaging application that they believe will bring a new “awareness dimension” into the enterprise.  This application is similar to Twitter, which I mentioned in a previous post, but provides additional benefits because the messaging takes place in the framework of people inside a company working transparently and collaborating on common goals.

 

On their website, company executives state that their focus is to meet business objectives through an increase of the dissemination of knowledge while increasing the feeling of unity throughout your company.  The fact that over 5,000 companies use Socialtext today illustrates the idea that they have been able to efficiently accomplish these goals for the numerous companies that use their products.  To read more about how Socialtext is influencing businesses, check out this article by William-Arthur Haynes.

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Tweets and Wikis: Tools for Collaboration

There is no doubt that there are many tools on the Internet that make collaboration between companies and their customers possible.  While I have already written about several companies that are effectively integrating these tools into their business communications strategies, I would now like to look at which tools are most prominent today.

Twitter– Twitter is a microblogging website that allows users to post “Tweets” about what they are doing at any point in time.  Each “Tweet” can be no longer than 140 characters.  This allows your followers on Twitter to easily stay up-to-date on your life.  Below is a clip from the CommonCraft Show that describes how Twitter works.

 

In a recent article on TwiTip.com, Darren Rowse writes about five ways a company can benefit from using Twitter.  One of these benefits he mentions is collaboration.  He states that no matter how large or small the collaborations efforts he has made through Twitter, they have combined to be great.  It is due to experiences like this by people all over the world that Twitter is quickly becoming a popular collaboration tool for companies and individual professionals alike.

Wikis– These are tools used by groups to share information easily over the Web.  The use of wikis allows for group members to meet and get work completed in the time or place most convenient for each individual member.  The sites are created and maintained by the users, so the information on the site stays current.  The most popular wiki on the Internet today is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that can be edited by users all over the world.  Below is another clip from the CommonCraft Show that helps describe how wikis work.

 

Companies all over America have used wikis to help gather information efficiently so it can be passed to customers.  The use of wikis has even spread to book writing, as I wrote about in an earlier post on We Are Smarter Than Me by Barry Libert and Jon Spector.  Wikis not only support convenience among users, something that was previously overlooked by collaboration tools; but also necessity.  Thanks to wikis, time restrictions and geographical locations are no longer limitations on group work. 

These are just two examples of tools that companies are using to increase collaboration between themselves and their customers.  In my next post, I will look at how social networking sites are also helping to initiate collaboration on the professional level.

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We Are Smarter Than Me: An Exercise in Collaboration

It is undeniable that there have been several key moments that have changed the way we use technology in our society.  From Gutenberg printing the Bible with movable type, to the televised Presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960, to the dot com boom of the late 1990s; these events have all had an impact on how technology shapes the way we live our lives.  Perhaps another key moment took place in 2008 when Barry Libert and Jon Spector published their book We Are Smarter Than Me:  How to Unleash the Power of Crowds in Your Business.  

The goal of the book was to answer two questions.  First, the authors wanted to know why community approaches work (or not) when it comes to marketing, business development, distribution, and other business practices.  Secondly, the men were interested in finding out what companies have to do to make those community approaches even more successful.  What makes this different from other books is the fact that the two men used social media to put it together.

Libert and Spector invited over 1 million users to contribute their answers to these questions in a wiki community.  The men gathered answers from comments made by members on the wiki, forums, podcasts, related blog posts, and in-person comments.  Web 2.0 technologies have never been used to this extent when creating a book.  This collaboration by a wide audience highlights the idea that individuals are more likely to participate if you give them more opportunities to voice their ideas.

As Web 2.0 technologies make mass collaboration like this easier, it will be interesting to see if the publication of this book will be looked at as a turning point in the process of book writing.

This is a clip of an interview with Barry Libert where he talks about the goals of writing and process behind creating We Are Smarter Than Me with Jon Spector.

 

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