The social web. Here. Now.

I’ve been immersing myself in the world of the social web this last week. It’s part of my QA role for a presentation two of my colleagues are doing next week for work. The timing is very interesting because even the likes of Time Magazine [1] are acknowledging that the web has moved into the social sphere. Some statistics put the number of people who belong to online communities at 100 million users [2] with the split of social- and professional memberships approximately 50/50.

I find the notion of the web as a place of social interaction just fascinating (with all my hats: as an IA, a psychologist, and a knowledge manager) because there are some intriguing group dynamics in online social networking that are unique to the online world. People are publishing and sharing their thoughts without the constraint of hierarchy or beauracracy with free and easy to use tools like WordPress - a way of supporting knowledge sharing through storytelling that wasn’t really possible a few years ago. And don’t try and tell me that blogging is just a fad. In January 2006 alone, 228 million people in the US were reading blogs [3]. And don’t tell me that blogging is just for geeks - some of the biggest names amongst the Fortune 500, are blogging:

• Amazon
• Cisco
• Dell
• Eastman Kodak Company
• Ford Motor Company
• General Electric
• General Motors Corporation
• Honeywell International
• Nike
• Time Warner, and even
• Wal-Mart Stores

Ultimately, it’s seen as a way of directly communicating on a personal level to their clients. They do this because, if they’re not talking to their clients, blogging about it, chances are that their competitors are doing it - building up a rapport that will lead to increased confidence in their business that will lead to more sales.

But it’s not just about blogging. People are sharing interesting things they’ve found on the web with their peers by using Del.icio.us - cutting out the need to go to google and work out what is worth reading and what isn’t. And if a dozen people have bookmarked it, you know it’s worth a look! Use this tool and you can improve work efficiency by cutting down the amount of time you spend just looking for information. Use this tool and it can help articulate what your people know and where they found information that helped them.

There’s even ways of sharing peers with peers. LinkedIn is a networking tool. The email message for connecting one person to another in the system says it all:

Hi

I found you while I was searching my network at LinkedIn. let’s connect directly, so we can help each other with referrals. If we connect, both our networks will grow. To add me as your connection, just follow the link below.

…And, of course, there are lots of other tools. Share photos of your corporate events with clients and staff on Flickr. Have a real-time interactive conversation on Second Life while finding out information on Sweden at Sweden’s Second Life embassy. Use Last.Fm to track your music tastes and make recommendations on what you might like to listen to by comparing your listenning tastes to others. Share and publish your videos on MySpace - a must have for all you growing rock bands, DJs and clubs out there.

So what does all this mean? I think Martin Stiksel of Last FM puts it nicely [4]:

I think the future of social networks still lies in the connections between people and the potential that lies in these connections

So when you think business, the web, and the potential in sharing with your clients, your staff, and your stakeholders, the web has moved beyond just dumping information on your website. People want to be engaged. They want to interact with you. They want a pesonal experience that will make them feel loved and cared for. The new web can deliver this. And if you don’t deliver there’s lots of competitors that will.

…so grab hold of something, because the social web thing is going to be one hell of a ride!

M

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[1] Time’s Person of the Year: You. Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006. Online at: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html, accessed on 22 March 2007.

[2] Pew Internet Reseach, USA statistics only

[3] comScore Media Metrix 2.0

[4] Cieslak, M. 2006. Rise of the web’s social network. Online at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/5391258.stm, accessed on 22 March 2007