Online Communities and Social Networks
Electronic ‘newsgroup’ capabilities have been used since the
late 1970s and online communities started to thrive with the
arrival of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s.
With the rise of 'Web 2.0', the idea of Social Networks has
taken hold as a way to build on the established concepts of
community sites. The first social network site is often cited as
www.classmates.com which
was started in 1995 and with 40 million users was certainly the
most popular of such sites prior to the arrival of teenage driven
phenomenon MySpace, which has recently risen to the dizzy heights
of 170 million users.
The definition of ‘social networks’ can be hard to pin down and
particularly the difference between a social network and an online
community. Here are some suggestions as to how the two approaches
differ…
Identity is not dependent on involvement
In traditional online communities, an identity is usually only
created through involvement in discussions. It is well-known that
many will ‘lurk’ rather than engage in discussions and therefore
gain little or no identity in these environments.
The social network emphasis on ‘homepages and profiles’ means
that identity can be built without participation in discussions
through how users define their choices and the connections they
make to others.
Visible member profiles
Social Network sites tend to make the member profile core to the
service. These profiles tend to be richer in content and context
than the more peripheral, basic profiles in traditional online
communities.
People make their preferences known
Unlike the peripheral profiles and somewhat hidden preferences
in traditional online communities, the richer member profiles or
homepages of social network sites tend to make visible reference to
the member’s preferences, interests and relationships with
others.
A flatter hierarchy
Traditional online communities typically have a specific
structure which is often created by the originators and/or
moderators of the environment. They tend to result in buckets of
content that can get deeper and deeper.
In a social network members are free to create new forums
outside of a preset hierarchy which allows them to have an equal
opportunity to gain visibility in the system and therefore for
members to move to where the conversation is, much more quickly and
easily.
Follow the people not just the chat
Traditional online communities tend to be focused on the
discussion and, consequently, the site navigation follows the
discussion patterns too. Social networks offer alternative
navigation routes. Rather than follow a discussion, you can follow
a person, their interests and their groups to arrive at a
destination that is relevant and useful to you.
The relevance of social networks to the
enterprise
Understanding these environments and how and where they differ,
can help determine what type of environment is best for your
Enterprise 2.0 needs and therefore help
you structure your initiatives accordingly.
Encourage participation in relevant existing social
networks
Beyond the consumer web and teenage driven social network
environments, such as Friendster, Orkut, Facebook and MySpace,
there are the established business related social networks
including Ryze, XING, LinkedIn, ITtoolbox and UK based Ecademy.
ITtoolbox, for example, utilises the key elements of ‘Web 2.0’
such as blogs, wikis and the homepage/profile centric approach
described above to create effective business communities of
interest where business people can discuss and exchange ideas and
build effective networks of like-minded people.
Given the growth and popularity of these environments, the
question is, why wouldn’t you want your employees and your
organisation represented? There is much more to be said for taking
a proactive role in emergent technologies and activities rather
than a passive one.
Create your own social network
Taking proactiveness a step further, your organisation may be in
a position to seize the initiative and lead the creation and
development of a social network relevant to your area of business.
UK based Ecademy, for instance, has used a Content Management System, not dissimilar to
Immediacy, as a platform for creating its business related Social
Network that now has around 100,000 registered users.
If this is a step too far then start with creating one within
your organisation first. The creation of a homepage/profile for
each individual in the organisation should be actively encouraged
if it isn’t already, as too, the use of blogging and ‘wiki-like’
webpage and content creation around projects and knowledge.
Use blogging to enter into conversations with customers
and prospects
There is absolutely no doubt that blogging is a powerful
enterprise tool whether used within an organisation’s internal web
presence or as a way to engage more effectively with external
audiences.
Firstly, it drives ‘date driven/chronologically listed’ topical
content that can be created easily by non-technical people.
Secondly it promotes interaction and the exchange of knowledge and
ideas through commenting. And thirdly, it provides a catalyst for
social networking on the basis that if the blog content is deemed
useful and authentic by readers then they will seek to associate
themselves with the author and play a role in publicising that
content further either through their own blogs, RSS feeds or
specific links from their websites.