By Teresa A. Martin
We’ve been having some interesting conversations about the nature of business and professional community and how to make it work on many levels. That discussion has only just begun and, as always, our goal is to try and create some action that actually makes something happen! It’s fun to connect with each other – and it’s very heartening to find out that lots of us are struggling with the same frustrations. We’re not alone, and together we can find ways to change these dynamics.
So, with the notion of community on my mind this week, I found myself looking at national models. Thinking about social networking. Wondering how ... and if ... and for whom ... the rules of engagement are shifting.
While wandering about virtually, I ended up at one of the most talked about political sites of our young campaign season, Barakobama.com.
Yeah, yeah, everyone has a website. But what is interesting here is that the website is also trying to incorporate the ideas of social networking. Instead of being the same underlying model of create message-deliver message, and just using the web as a medium and channel, the campaign is trying to dig into the dynamic nature of the online medium and the user-driven way it runs.
Blog. Dashboard. Friends. Groups. Meet-ups. These are a few of the trends in social networking and the campaign is tapping into all these with a feature called my.barakobamba.com. In this, you create a profile and connect with others. Yeah, you can fundraise ... and blog ... and create a meet-up ... and in short, build an online community within a community.
The only person creating content is you. And your friends. This is the world of many-to-many, where information is like a whole series of little bubbles popping around the universe in multiple directions at once.
The power in this is the power of the many – that is, lots of people creating lots of information bubbles creates a wave of excitement and a sense of empowerment because everyone is part of the creation.
Of course, the flip side of this is exactly the same, but with a negative spin. In a many-to-many environment there are so many information bubbles that no one knows what is and isn’t true, feelings can flare, and civility can disappear in the click of a mouse.
And, of course, what happens if no one partakes? Or if only certain subsets partake? The sum is only as good as the many pieces that go into it.
I created an account at my.barakobama.com. I decided to see what sort of activity this community has here on the Cape. I found two upcoming events, one in Dennis and one in Oak Bluffs. Two people were signed up for one of the events. Three people for the other.
Viral marketing is a big part of social networking. In theory, I would invite friends into the space that I have here online. And they would participate. And we’d communicate in different ways. Maybe I’d set up a blog and people would share comments on it. Someone might do an event. Every friend would invite another and another, just like in that old shampoo commercial – remember, “I told two friends and they told two friends and ...” Nothing new here really, it’s old fashioned word of mouth with a new way to deliver.
But that still brings us back to the question of just exactly who is being transformed by social networking? It would be interesting to take a poll here in our region. Are we active online? Do we participate in blogs? Are we posting to YouTube? Are we doing these things – but not telling anyone else HERE that we are?
As we look for tools to connect ourselves and create the power of the many, will social networking work?
Social networking is partially virtual, online connection. But it is also very real world. It is people planning real-world connections using online tools. Does that require the density of an urban area? Or does it require some pre-existing connection or affiliation?
I don’t know any of these answers, but I look at my own patterns of use for clues. I use the online world like a faucet, turning it on and off on demand. I tend to lurk in most lists I’m not, not post. I respond to things that arrive in my inbox and tend to forget about things that don’t. Research suggests that I’m probably pretty typical.
According to respected Internet guru Jakob Nielsen, in most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action. His 2006 review of research on participation inequality revealed little gems like only 5% of web users have blogs and only .01% post daily. So, when we talk about many to many, we’re really talking concept!
That doesn’t mean social networking tools don’t work – it just means that they aren’t the only answer. Sort of like the rest of life, I guess, where there is never one solution fits all, no matter how much someone might want that sliver bullet.
But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give them a try either. Sometime the most unexpected tools end up applying themselves in ways we don’t expect. I think it is unlikely that I’ll build a personal profile at my-barakobama.com, but I might lurk and sometime might even show up at a real world event. And maybe social networking tools, in some form, can be part of a way of building strength in our professional community life, as well.
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