Archive for the 'Social Networks' Category

The world wide web. Social networks. Links. Making connections. Creating communities. The internet.

All these words and phrases evoke images of a spider’s web, a network of connections, chains, groups of people, fishing nets - so many things that bind us all together.

One of the powerful currencies of social media is links - because links help you move up the searchability ranks and also up the rank of authority. It comes from the early origins of the internet which began in the world of academia. Academic texts that are referred to by other academic writers gain the reputation of being authorities on that particular subject. The more a particular text is cited, the greater the authority. So, for example, in the world of psychology, textbooks invariably cite Freud - but they are not so likely to cite an unknown student’s dissertation. Freud is an authority - and is likely to stay one - while that unknown student is not unless he/ she gets their dissertation noticed and cited by other academics. And cited a lot.

So with blogs and websites and other online content: the more other sites link to your blog, the greater your blog is considered an authority. Technorati is a website that calculates your blog’s ranking in the world of blogs so you can see how you compare with the top blogs like Endgadget (No. 1) and Boing Boing (No. 2) - they are the blogs that are linked to the most.

There’s a delightful application called TouchGraph that helps you visualise the network of communities and connections that you are in. Here is a screen shot of the connectivity for my arts and writing blog, Fusion View (No. 69,776* on Technorati).

(Click on the picture for a more detailed view)

To check out how connected you are, go to TouchGraph and type in your blog’s URL and it will generate a swirling, moving net of all the other blogs and websites you are linked with. It’s wonderfully hypnotic, reminding me of the adage that no-one is more than six people away from anyone else (”the six degrees of separation”).

And if you haven’t already done so, sign up at Technorati and “claim your blog”.

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*It seems that breaking through the top 100,000 Technorati ranking barrier is a big deal on the blogosphere, as testified by some of the blog posts that celebrate that breakthrough. So, I guess I need to do something like throw my mouse in the air and douse my computer with champagne or something…!

Elton John recently ranted against the internet and social media, according to Neowin.net and other news sources. He is quoted as saying:

“The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff. Instead they sit at home and make their own records, which is sometimes OK but it doesn’t bode well for long-term artistic vision. It’s just a means to an end. We’re talking about things that are going to change the world and change the way people listen to music and that’s not going to happen with people blogging on the internet. I mean, get out there — communicate. Hopefully the next movement in music will tear down the internet. Let’s get out in the streets and march and protest instead of sitting at home and blogging. I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span. There’s too much technology available. I’m sure, as far as music goes, it would be much more interesting than it is today.”

It reminded me that there are still many people out there who don’t know much about online social culture and who for some reason don’t want to know about it. I think it’s a shame for them - there is so much creativity and experimentation online in terms of self-expression and artistic expression as well as increased communications between people and cultures.

Here are some examples:

Music

There are a number of virtual recording studios like Net Studio where musicians can collaborate with other musicians anywhere in the world, not just those who are in the same town as they are.

Podsafe music is music that can be used for podcasting without paying a royalty. Podsafe networks allow musicians to distribute their music globally over the internet and there are internet stations like Accident Hash that specialise in playing podsafe music. And a lot of it is really good stuff, too.

Individuals doing funky things with music for themselves and their friends and in the process becoming music legends online - like this young Korean guy playing Pachelbel’s Cannon like you’ve never heard it before.

Books and Blogging

Bhagdad Burning was a blog by a young Iraqi girl which was subsequently turned into a prize-winning book of the same name.

Blood, Sweat and Tea is a book that was compiled by the blog of a London Ambulance driver, Random Acts of Reality

The Blooker Prize is an annual prize for the best blog, modelled on the Booker Prize for books.

Photography

Andrew Losowksy started a collection of photographs of doorbells in Florence, Italy on Flickr, the photo-sharing site. He would write stories to accompany the pictures. He gained a huge following online for his stories and the photos and stories have now been transformed into a book The Doorbells of Florence that has won the Blooker prize.

There’s a whole genre of photography around the theme of a daily photo from your city eg City Daily Photo Blog, Santiago de Chile Daily Photo Blog, Brighton Daily Photo etc

There is a group on Flickr that creates short stories using a series of five photos.

Art

I love this web installation by filmmaker and artist Miranda July - it’s filmic, witty and a commentary on websites all at the same time: http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/

Rhizome is a site that posts news about new media art and the intersection of technology and art, with great links to a vast range of different art websites and blogs.

Social Networks

As for making connections, blogging and social networks like Facebook help people connect so much more easily than in the days of snail mail. I’ve personally made some great new friends in Malaysia through the litbloggers network there and I enjoy using the online telephony service Skype to connect with my family. Facebook and Twitter has enabled me to keep in contact with a range of friends in the UK and Malaysia that I might otherwise not keep in contact with. In many ways, I feel I have a much richer social life through both offline connections with my regular local friends and online connections with those who are further away or in another country.

In my view, the things that are going to “change the world and change the way people listen to music” - and for that matter, change how we relate, connect and create - are already happening online with great energy and creativity. With or without the likes of Elton John.

This is a terrific little video that explains how social networking online works, created by Common Craft.
There’s really nothing more for me to add other than it’s short, too the point and entertaining while being informative.

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At the end of the video, Lee Lefever suggests three social network sites to explore. If you want to check out a few more, take a look at a post I wrote back in April about meeting a new friend on a social network site and listing some other sites to look at.

I got an invite to Joost last week and it really is fab! What is Joost? It’s internet TV poured onto your PC screen via broadband. There are different channels - documentary, comedies, entertainment, music, cartoons and more. But no full feature films as yet.

I’m impressed by the quality of the picture, sound and speed. I’ve been watching the stand up comedians at the Montreal Comedy Festival - which star quality acts.

And it’s got integrated social networky type stuff like live chat with your friends and a quick blog tool so you can blog while watching TV. So no more sitting alone in your room watching telly - you’re alone, yes, but you’re also not alone, since you are networked to the rest of your Joost community at the same time. The thing is: you’d better be good at multi-tasking to take advantage of all these functions.

Click on the picture below to watch a promo video

Joost is in beta testing at the moment and is by invitation only. And I have some invites! Email me via the Contact link above and I can send you an invite - only available until the invites run out. Or click on the badge below.

The only thing is, with this network installed on my PC, I’ll never do any work again…

NOTE: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

A recent online survey by the Recruitment Employment Confederation (REC) confirms what some people feared was true. Employers check up on potential employees before they hire them - and there’s no easier way then via the internet. You google people you know, don’t you? The ones you’ve just met or are about to meet; your friends and associates; your lost love? So it figures that employers do, too.

The survey shows that 86 per cent of the 298 recruitment consultants questioned think candidates should think twice before putting certain information on the Internet for fear of it affecting their chances of employment. The REC press release on their site reports:

Tom Hadley, the REC’s Director of External Affairs commented: “As more employers take interview shortcuts and rely on Internet searches to filter out unsuitable candidates, it’s vital that job seekers take their Internet footprint seriously and keep in mind that it could affect their job prospects.

Before posting any personal details on the Internet, candidates need to think twice about how an employer might perceive them.”

This is of particular concern for the “millenials” - the 75 million young people born between 1977 and 1998 who are the main participants in social network sites like MySpace and Facebook where they let it all hang out, sharing their views, thoughts, mis-adventures and much more - often in casual, coarse or uninhibited language as well as photos and videos that might be fun and crazy in that context but shocking and inappropriate in a career context.

On the other hand 51 per cent of the recruiters thought that recruitment agencies may find themselves with fewer candidates to place as social networking online becomes the new way for people to find jobs. Think of the professional online networks like LinkedIn (for business people and professionals) or MyRagan (for business communicators).

While it is worth noting these concerns and thinking before you blog or video yourself or post a photo of yourself in horseplay, bear in mind that we are in a time of change - and fast change at that. At one time, Richard Branson was a maverick because - shock, horror - he didn’t believe in wearing a tie to a business meeting. These days, among the old guard, there are new businesses with new work/ life values - think of Innocent smoothies, Google, Yahoo! , any tech startup and indeed, Virgin. Perhaps as the millenials grow up and rise to positions of power within companies and businesses, they won’t be so concerned about the shenanigans of other millenials documented online. They will be the ones recruiting each other via social networks and maybe their criteria might include “Proven drive and energy - please link to your MySpace video showing wild partying and to the software application you designed the morning after”….

As it is, a recent Twitter job ad for an Operations Engineer included this line: “Must have: excellent triage skills, mild manner, rockstar inside (ready to rise to any occasion), strong interest in Twitter.” (my emphasis).

Personally, the one finding from the report I found the most disturbing was this one: “71 per cent said something written in the ‘other interests’ section of a CV has put employers off taking candidates through to the interview stage”. What?! There was a time when you needed to put something in that section to show that you were a well-rounded person. Now, it looks like some companies want only one-dimensional entitities, rather like robots who will work and work and work and nothing more. Having interests outside of your job is not only healthy but also contributes to factors that make you do your job better - like motivation (quality time with your family brings you bouncing into work the next day), creativity (working on a complex hobby can stimulate ideas for complex problems at work), diverse and transferrable skills (volunteering on a committee brings team building skills to your job), people skills (having friends helps you get on well with co-workers and customers), networking (that person you meet at playing cricket could bring in some work for your company) and the list goes on …

What do you think? Do you let it all hang out online? Or have you never taken the step to blog because of exactly these worries? Add a comment or email me and share your thoughts.

Photo: thanks to Xamonich from flickr.com

NOTE: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

Continuing the Conversation from the Social Media round table I chaired in Slovenia….

One of the business communicators at our discussion was working with a company who had developed and implemented an internal social network for their research and development teams to innovate new products through facilitating sharing of ideas and communications between the individuals and teams. But not many of these staff were using this tool. My colleague wanted to know how to increase staff take-up of the tool.

The Kevin Costner movie, Field of Dreams, brought us the visionary saying: “if you build it, they will come”. That may have worked in the movie and it may work for some business ventures. In most cases, we all have to be somewhat more pragmatic in adding a few more steps into the process after we present the world with our exciting new baseball pitch or mall or product - or social media tool. And one of those crucial steps is communicating with the people who are ultimately going to use or benefit from that product or tool

So in our discussion, we explored what processes the company had used to encourage the teams to integrate this social network tool into their research and development work. What were they already doing to share ideas and communicate with each other? What activities (eg team and individual meetings, face to face workshops etc) where they involved in as part of their innovation of new products? How were aware were they of the benefits of the tool and how it could increase their communication efficiency?

My colleague came away from this session with a concrete plan to implement training sessions for the relevant teams at her client company so that they could learn the benefits of the tool and how to use it in their work.

A key message here, I think, is to view social media tools as just that: tools. And as with any tools, people need to be trained to use them and also, understand how they can help improve or facilitate the relevant processes.

Photo: thanks to soundtrackcollector.com

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NOTE: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

Continuing the Conversation from the social media discussions in Slovenia….

One of our round table participants held that one of the core values of blogging is its openness for everyone to take part, to add their comments, to disagree or disagree, to share ideas. That gives blogging and social media its vibrancy and energy and it is through open conversations without centralised control that fresh ideas emerge, freedom is embraced and exercised and democratic principles are lived out in the flesh.

Is there a place for private blogs or private networks? Can an online space that is public and open to all in some situations restrict one’s freedom to express oneself fully and truly? Some possibilities come to mind:

• a forum where bloggers who have experienced cyberharrassment might want to share and support each other.

• a business network where financially sensitive information needs to be discussed

• a network where business leaders may wish to network freely with each other - be able to disagree, argue, debate etc without what they discuss being open to misinterpretation to those not within their industry

I’m sure you can think of other examples as well.

It can be very valuable for victims of trauma to speak openly about their experiences without feeling judged or put down by others. Public spaces on the web can be uncivil and unruly, jostling spaces, just like any street or the subway in rush hour. A safe space for such discussions would need to be private.

Similarly, with any other matter that is sensitive whether financial, personal or in business, private networks may be the only way that social media can be used effectively.

Debate, discussion, disagreement and argument in are all part of the process of negotiation or coming to a decision or consensus in the Western democracies. Sometimes there are disagreements between people on the same team or same Board or the same committee while they work out their ideas and before they come to a firm conclusion. It may be that where social media is used to facilitate this process, it needs to be private between the relevant people so as not to have the process hampered by those who are not meant to be involved in that process. It also may not be appropriate for these people who are playing on the same team to be seen by their stakeholders in the process of the disagreement if that is going to be misinterpreted as a problem in the leadership and cause unnecessary instability within the corporation or their market - when in fact it is merely a process of interrogating an issue that will ultimately be resolved.

I find this issue a challenging and very interesting one. I agree whole-heartedly with my colleague who upholds the value of openness and lack of controls on the blogosphere as a whole. And yet, I find that there are circumstances when in fact you can only have openness within a ring-fenced “safe” area.

What do you think?

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Photo: thanks to Aaron Jacobs on flickr.com

Note: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

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Here is a great example of really useful user-generated content. Hotspotr is a directory of WiFi Cafes and Hotspots around the world. All it does is provide an interactive map - it’s up to the likes of you and me to create the directory.

There’s no sign up or login. You just click on Add a Cafe and follow the simple steps to add the name and location of the cafe that has WiFi. There’s also additonal information you can include eg if it’s free, what kind of food is served and any other remarks. You can rate the cafe and indicate whether it’s a good place for working or just surfing.

Typically, US cities predominate but there are a range of international locations. You can navigate via the map but for some reason the map does not show ALL the cities in the listings - for international locations, it’s better to go via the link See All Cities and then click on International Cities.

The people adding locations to Hotspotr aren’t getting paid for what they do. The reward is in taking part and helping to build a useful knowledge base. I added a hotspot in London in that spirit and it only took a couple of minutes. This site is like a wiki (an online encyclopaedia whose content is created and added to by its users) but really easy to use and has the added dimension of the visual map. When my entry was processed, the map zoomed into its exact location, showing the street it was on and local landmarks. It was cool!

How might you add user participation to your website by tapping into the knowledge and community spirit of your stakeholders in a similar way? User-generated content based on participants making videos and the like run the risk of pooling a lot of inappropriate material, some of which may be damaging to your brand. But a knowledge or data focused project that is easy and fun to take part in like a directory of some kind could bring a more satisfying result.

Photo: thanks to nextnature.net

NOTE: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

clipped from www.weblo.com Weblo Properties offer you the exciting opportunity of owning absolutely any property that exists in the real world - well, a cyber copy of it, that is! Buy and sell cities, states, airports, historical places, buildings, even your home. But you have to be the first to get it on Weblo! Own cities and states and you’ll become the Mayor or Governor, you might even become the President of your country. Get paid for advertising revenues generated from your properties.

=>> California is sold for $53,000

=>> The White House is going for £10m.

=>> At the time of writing, England is up for grabs.

=>> There’s an auction section as well just to crank things up to a fever pitch…

If you do go and buy anything at Weblo, do come back and let me know and I’ll feature your property on ZenGuide.

Flickr - notice the spelling (no “e”) - is a social networking site for photographs. You can sign up for a free account and upload your photos. Once you have an account, you get a dedicated webpage address for your photos eg http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourchosenflickrpagename. You can give that link to anyone so they can go to view your photos there.

Public/ private

You can display all or some only of your photos as public (for anyone and everyone to see) or private (which only your friends and family can see). In order to for friends and family to see your private photos, they will need to sign up for their own Flickr account as well - that’s a bit more cumbersome than allowing the whole world to see your pics but then if privacy is important to you, then it’s worth those extra couple of steps for your friends and family.

People viewing your pictures can leave comments for each photo. You can turn comments off if your prefer.

Groups

You can set up a group with your family and friends so you can all pool your photographs.

There are also different public groups on Flickr that you can join. eg if you have photos all about cars, you could pool your car pics into a car group which will have photos by other car enthusiasts. If there isn’t already a group for cars or whatever theme you are passionate about, you can always start one of your own.

People are also using groups in creative ways. Here are some groups to explore:

I love this one - Stick Figures in Peril: photos of those warning signs showing stick figures in all kinds of terrible situations. It makes a nervous person like me feel that the whole world is a minefield of terror…

This one is brilliantly creative - Tell a Story in Five Frames: use five photos in sequence to tell a story. I featured some good short photo stories on my arts blog, Fusion View, in the post “Micro Photo Stories”

This one is starkly hypnotic - Urban Explorers: the invitation to post your photos here says. “photos and stories about abandoned paper mills, condmened hospitals, decaying barns, etc… please do not post typical cty pictures here.”

Creative Commons Licence

For bloggers, Flickr is a great resource for free photos to illustrate your posts. In the “Search” section, choose “Advanced Search” and click on the option to Search within Creative Commons-licensed photos and type in the keyword you want.

Creative Commons Licensed photos are those that their creators have offered to the world to use for free by clicking on the relevant Creative Commons Licence option within Flickr. The only condition is that you credit the creator and link back to the Flickr page where you got the photo. Note that you should check if there are any restrictions in the Creative Commons Licence restricting commercial use or changes to the original photo.

Many ways to upload your photos

There are a number of ways to upload your photos. You can go to the Flickr upload page and upload it 6 photos at a time from there. Or you can download the Flickr Uploader onto your desktop and upload loads and loads of photos all in one go. Or you can even upload photos by email from your email account or your mobile phone - Flickr gives you a dedicated email address to email the pics to.

Tags

Tags are handy labels you can give to your photos so you can easily find them again. You can also search other people’s public photos by tags to see, say, all pics tagged with “car” or “Malaysia” etc.

Free versus Pro Accounts

The free account allows you to upload up to 200 photos. There is also a monthly upload limit (based on megabytes per month). And you can only create 3 “sets” or folders.

The Flickr Pro Account costs US$47.99 for two years (or US$24.95 for one year). There is no limit to the number of photos you can upload nor any monthly limit. You can also create as many folders as you like.

Conclusion

I like Flickr and use it now for all my private photographs. The interface is a little bit complex and takes a bit of exploration and getting into the mindset of the people who designed the site. But overall, I find it a quick and easy way to sort and store my photos and also to share photos with my internationally-based family - there’s nothing like getting an update from my cousin in Australia and being able to see her photos on Flickr within minutes of her uploading them!