Sociabilities

Blog

  • Tweet of the Day – 9th September 2013

    This Tweet from @ivortossell reworks the famous Andy Wharhol phrase from 1968:

    In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes

     

     

    Tweet from Ivor Tossell Twitter Hated for 15 Minutes
    Tweet from Ivor Tossell Twitter Hated for 15 Minutes

     

    More Tweets of the Day here.

     

  • Fingers in Everything, Fingerprints on Nothing

    Neil Midgley BBC Breakfast News
    Neil Midgley BBC Breakfast News

    One of the facets of sometimes working from home is that I can start my working day with the television news in the background. This morning on the BBC Breakfast News there was an item about the current furore involving the BBC Trust where accusations and counter-accusations are flying in front of the House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee.

    The news report featured an interview with Neil Midgley who is described by The Huffington Post as:

    a freelance journalist and commentator, who writes about media for the Daily Telegraph and other publications

    During the interview Neil used a wonderful phrase to describe the BBC Trust:

     they want to have their fingers in everything but their fingerprints on nothing

    I was so impressed that I Tweeted this phrase out:

     

    Tweet from Sociabilities about @NeilMidgley
    Tweet from Sociabilities about @NeilMidgley

     

    During the course of the day I found myself returning to this phrase but within the different context of Social Media.

    I found myself thinking about the differences in Twitter styles and behaviours which I’ve referred to previously as Tweetsters and Twidiots – specifically the different approaches that I’ve labelled as the Linkster, the Vaddster, and the Thoughtster.

    These can be arranged on a spectrum…

     

    It occurs to me that the Linkster approach to Twitter is a way to have fingerprints on some content but no fingers in it – meaning no creative contribution and only the very shallowest of curation with no added value.

    By contrast the Vaddster approach is a deeper form of shared curation and features a combination of both fingerprints on and fingers in the content or information. Value is being added by the contributor.

    The epitome of the combination of fingerprints on and fingers in content and information is the Thoughtster approach – which I find is typically the most valuable contribution within the Twitter stream.

    The idea of “digital footprints” and “digital exhaust” are not new and there is an existing meaning for the phrase “digital fingerprint” in the IT security context,  but so far as I am aware this view of “digital fingerprints” within the Social Media context is original.

     

  • Bluenod – A New Twitter Tool

    Yesterday I found an exciting and, for me, valuable new tool that provides a visualization of Twitter users and hashtags in the form of a map. The tool is called Bluenod and requires that you sign up with Twitter.

    Bluenod – Visualize Communities – Web Site

    There is a basic free version and also a Pro version.

    Bluenod describe the application as:

    Bluenod is a simple way to search and explore communities.

    Which is certainly an accurate description, but does not do justice to the potential that I see for this tool.

    The Bluenod Web site is simple and elegant and basically tells the story – the text below is taken from the site and provides a succinct outline of the application:

    Search
    Bluenod is a simple and quick way to find and visualize any user account or hashtag on Twitter.
    Explore
    Browse connected people and content in a fast and efficient way.
    Understand
    Look deeper into your communities with time navigation and data storage.
    Available in Pro version
    Manage
    Engage with your communities and see your impact instantly.
    Available in Pro version

    I advocate that you have a look at the Bluenod Web site for your yourself.

    Here is another graphic from the site which highlights both their visual approach to describing the application and the capabilities of the application:

    Bluenod - Explore CommunitiesBluenod require that you sign up for the application using your Twitter and account and login for each subsequent use. The signup process is pretty standard – but I always have a concern and look carefully at the details for each Twitter Authorization. The graphic below is taken from the signup process:

    Bluenod Twitter Authorization

    I always have a concern when an application requires permission to:

    • …follow new people
    • Update your profile
    • Post Tweets for you

    and normally search for reviews to see whether there have been examples where the application has done that. I could not find any adverse comments about Bluenod and so proceeded. The signup in the application concludes by asking for your email address.

    After the signup is complete you are offered a tour and I’ve included below some screen grabs from that tour:

    Bluenod Tour Step 1

    In order to map and visualize the Twitter community around a particular Twitter account you simply enter the twitter user name – ideally in the forma @Sociabilities featuring the @ character – but if you omit this Bluenod will enter it for you.

    Bluenod Tour Step 2

    Bluenod Tour Step 2

    The Bluenod application provides you with a simple, elegant and interactive map of the Twitter community for the user you’ve entered. Each circle represents a Twitter user and you can mouse over these to see the connections, or click on a user to display their Twitter profile in the left hand pane. An indication of “influence” is provided for each user by the size of the circle representing them. There is a graph at the top of the screen showing the time period displayed – it’s worth noting that the Pro version is not restricted to either the last 7 days or a maximum of 300 Tweets.

    Bluenod Tour Step 3
    Bluenod Tour Step 3

    Clicking on the icon for a user displays their Twitter profile in the left-hand pane as shown below:

    Bluenod Tour Step 4
    Bluenod Tour Step 4

    That covers the basics of the application and I hope encourages you to explore it for yourself.

    For me this is one of the most exciting applications to come along for a long time and it is already proving invaluable in helping me learn more about the nature of Twitter communities and the and behaviours within them.

    I’ll post more observations as I use Bluenod further.

    In conclusion, you can find Bluenod on Twitter as @bluenod.

    (This post was drafted in April based on notes made at the time and posted retrospectively to include screen grabs – 13th June 2013.)

     

  • Social Media Carries Your Brain Around the Web

    Brain to Laptop
    Brain to Laptop

    At the weekend I tripped over an interesting quote from Thomas Edison which got me to thinking that:

    Social Media carries your brain around the Web

    Level: Beginner

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Thinking Time: Optional

    Here’s a source that features the relevant quote from Thomas Edison:

    The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around

    The more you think about this, the more it makes sense. I’m sure there are people who would argue from a purely evolutionary perspective that the purpose of our bodies, including our brains, is actually to ensure that our genes are spread. But that view ignores that we are sentient beings and that we progress as a species by thinking and sharing our thoughts.

    So it makes sense to me to adapt the quote from Edison for the digital era:

    Social Media carries your brain around the Web

    and:

    Social Media carries your thinking around the Web

    This links with an approach that I’ve adopted whenever I find something that catalyses thinking – and that’s the concept of “thirds” that I found a while back and referenced in this blog post Zella King and “The Third Third”.

    I’m not for a moment seeking to place myself in the company of Thomas Edison as a thinker – but I do say that his original third is extended by this update. You can think of the process as “standing on the shoulders of giants“. We are probably most familiar with that expression because it was used by Issac Newton:

    If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants

    Back in March 2010 I coined the expression:

    Blogging is branding your brain

    So I see Social Media in general, and social streams in particular, as a way to carry your brain, more specifically your thinking, to the Web.  It’s really an extension of that idea that blogging is branding your brain. If you’re a regular reader you’ll know that the people that I am most interested in, whose blogs and Tweets I listen to most, are those that I place in the category of Thoughtster.

    (R = 4th June 2013)

     

  • Three Circles for Google

    This post offers a three-circle model inspired by the recent announcement that Google are to close Google Reader on 1st July 2013. It’s also about trust and what I call “Trust Literacy”. I’m using the Google Reader closure as a business example of low “Trust Literacy”. I suggest that this move by Google displays a fundamental breach of trust towards their user community which is indicative of a deeper issue – namely their lack of “Trust Literacy”.

    Level: Intermediate

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Thinking Time: Optional

    Three circles for Google – as opposed to three cheers!

    On 13th March 2013 I Tweeted about Google and the forthcoming closure of Google Reader:

     

    Tweet Sociabilities Google Reader Closure

    I’ve started to look at businesses, and people in business, within a model that comprises three circles like a Venn-diagram.

    The relevant three circles in this model are:

    • Technology Literacy
    • Business Literacy
    • Trust Literacy
    Business Literacies Business 2.0

    The core concept of this model is that for any business, or any person online, there are three overlapping attributes, or capabilities, that can be present – technology literacy, business literacy and trust literacy.

    Trust Literacy and Business 2.0

    The ideal is that all three attributes are present and demonstrate a significant overlap. The extent to which each attribute is required, and the exact amount of overlap that’s necessary is determined by the specific business. The relative sizes of the circles can also be used to portray actual versus desired capabilities, and also to monitor changes in these capabilities over time.

    In the graphic above I identify that an overlap of these capabilities is required for Business 2.0.

    Trust Literacy and Business 2.0

    But – what happens when you convince a significant portion of your audience that your reality is this…

    Business Literacies Business 1.0

    I think everyone would agree that Google possess a high degree of technology literacy and business literacy.

    However, the real truth of Google with respect to trust from a significant portion of their community is that they are now seen as “Business 1.0” – as in the graphic above.

    What I am questioning is their trust literacy – and for me that is measured by the perception of the audience about Google rather than just the actual behaviours of Google.

    From Three Circles to Three Strikes

    For me, Google have now breached the “three strikes and you’re out” rule – for these reasons:
    • I am a paying subscriber to Google Apps
    • despite that, when they introduced Wave I had to wait in line like everyone else to get access
    • I also had to wait in line for Google+
    • now they are closing Google Reader which is one of my prime productivity tools

    Time after time I have found that I cannot trust Google.

    It may be that Google have considered the repercussions on their trustworthiness from their decision to close Google Reader and decided the carry on regardless. I wonder if their view of some sort of Google+ replacement for RSS justifies the business component of the decision.

    (This post was drafted on 16th March and the graphics added when it was published retrospectively – 13th June 2013.)

     

  • Zella King and “The Third third”

    This post describes the route by which I wandered around in a small network and the subsequent “learning pathway” of how I discovered Zella King and her presentation featuring the important concept of “The Third Third”.

    Level: Intermediate

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Thinking Time: Optional

    I’m very interested in the topic of SNA – Social Network Analysis – and amongst the various people and organisations that I follow and learn from, one of the foremost is Valdis Krebs. At the end of this post I’ve provided links were you can find more information about him and his work.

    I follow Valdis Krebs on Twitter, @ValdisKrebs, and because I quite often look at the followers of people that I follow, I found Zella King who is @netzing on Twitter. Looking back through her Tweetstream led me to this Tweet:

     

    Tweet Grab @netzing 30th November 2012
    Tweet Grab @netzing 30th November 2012

     

    The link in the Tweet led me to a Slideshare presentation entitled “Accelerated problem-solving through networks”.

    Whilst the whole presentation is useful, what really piqued my interest was Slide 6 and I’ve provided a screen grab below:

    The Third Third
    The Third Third

     

    “The third third” concept highlights how curation (for example) is easy, extending existing knowledge requires effort, and the best ideas are the original ideas contained in the third third.

    This concept of “The Third Third” struck me as a great idea and also resonated for me on a number of levels:

    • we see a lot of “curation” and “frictionless sharing” in social streams and most has relatively low added value
    • this concept helps to identify how to add value when blogging about a topic
    • this concept helps to identify how to add value when sharing knowledge and links within social streams
    • I try to add value rather than opting for “frictionless sharing”

    This “Third Third” concept provides a model that aligns with some of my thinking about the role of the Linkster and the Vaddster on Twitter. I try to add value within my writing for blog posts, and in my Tweetstream, but whilst I feel that I often succeed in the second third, to succeed in the third third is much harder.

    I’ve decided from now on to consider these thirds whenever I write a blog post. Where appropriate I may identify to the audience what proportion of the post adheres to each of these thirds.

    You can find out more about Valdis Krebs at these sources:

    Networkweaving

    Orgnet

    Valdis Krebs on Twitter

    Orgnet on Twitter

    This post is based on my notes from 12th February about the discovery and has been retro-posted with captured graphics.

    (R = 4th June 2013)

     

  • Old Economies and New Economies

    Information Rules - Book Cover
    Information Rules – Book Cover

    Periodically I revisit books that I first read some time ago because I find it useful to place the previous information and knowledge against more recent learnings.

    Lately I’ve been re-reading Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy by Carl Shapiro and Hal R Varian. Although my copy was published in 1999 there is some relevant background to the current digital network economy that we operate within.

    In Chapter 7 Networks and Positive Feedback the authors make this point when contrasting the old industrial economy and the new information economies:

    There is a central difference between the old and new economies: the old industrial economy was driven by economies of scale; the new information economy is driven by the economics of networks.

    (R 4th June 2013)

     

  • Tweet of the Day – 17th April 2012

    This Tweet from @mrmattdavies made me laugh:

     

    Tweet grab @mrmattdavies from 17th April 2012
    Tweet grab @mrmattdavies from 17th April 2012

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    More Tweets of the Day here.

     

  • Tweet of the Day – 19th January 2012

    I really liked this Tweet from @badlydrawnroy:

     

    Tweet from @badlydrawnroy
    Tweet from @badlydrawnroy

     

    Never read the bottom half of the Internet.

    (R = 4th June 2013)