Accidentally on Purpose Blog

Did you see Joseph Thornley’s post about Mike Arrington’s talk at the Mesh conference?  Now, before we get too far off the mark, I’m only addressing Joe’s first item, the one regarding Mike’s statement about being first to post.  I got to thinking about that comment and how that very notion seems to be so pervasive these days.  While speed may be important, I happen to believe accuracy is of greater importance. 

It’s understandable that Mike wants to be the first to write on a hot story as it still “pays” to be first.  But IMO, getting the story right is far more important. Too often, people jump on a story without really thinking about it simply because they too feel it’s more important to be first. 

This is the principle that drives lots of reporting.  As PR professionals, you understand this and you have learned to manage the need to be first by either giving exclusives (where that makes sense) or by asking folks to honor embargoes (so that everyone can be “first”).

With the advent of social media, now everyone wants to be first.  The result?  Too many people wind up getting the story wrong — or incomplete — in their rush to be first or among the first to write.

What’s interesting is that the now-universal need to be first seems to be forcing some to rethink that strategy.  As one of my close PR colleagues recently acknowledged, it seems like there are a number of bloggers and reporters who are now willing to wait for a story to break BEFORE posting themselves.  Why?  The nature of news distribution has changed.   As anyone who has watched a story wax and wane on the Internet knows, it is sometimes the follow-on story — with deeper perspective, and well to be quite candid, the facts and some analysis — that gets the lion’s share of attention.  And sometimes the big follow-on story becomes the final word if not the first word about a story.

Of course, in the blogosphere there is no “last” word.  But the lesson here for bloggers and journalists alike is that in a world where being first often means being wrong, it sometimes pays to be “last”.

,

Well SAPPHIREs are over and I’m back in the saddle and posting should pick up!  I actually got pretty sick after Vienna and spent three days in the hospital.  I won’t bore you with the specifics but I’m feeling much better now.

So, thanks for the well wishes and back to posting…

I didn’t get an opportunity to post much at SAPPHIRE Atlanta and not at all during the Vienna event so I thought what I’d do here is share some of the comments from the bloggers to give you a sense of the event from behind the scenes.

What Worked Well:

David: “The executive access (couldn’t have been better) and the combination of formal presentations, separate meetings, and some people coming to the bloggers’ corner.”

Dennis: “doing Ustream TV was a great idea - that should be on the agenda”

James: “Seems like its all good. What can I say?  Do more of the same.”

Sig: “For me all practical details were perfect”

What Didn’t Work So Well:

David: “I think the general press kit material is a waste of your copying and printing resources

Dennis: “For me, the noise levels in Vienna were terribly distracting which meant I couldn’t realistically write while at the event.”

James: “The working environment is cool but we need a dedicated room for discussions.”

Maggie: “A quiet area to record podcasts without background noise.”

What We’ll Do Differently Next Time:

Even though all indications were that it was a great event, here are the five things I am going to change/add.

1. Add dedicated meeting and video/podcasting rooms
2. No more printed materials
3. Provide enough down time for the bloggers to experience the full event
4. Have an agenda for myself so that I can post more
5. Ask everyone to ”shush” as to not distract Dennis (so that he can post more.)

Thanks to everyone who attended!  And a special hat tip to Dennis Howlett; your insights have been much appreciated. 

Photo credit: Craig Cmehil. 

At least I think it was Craig but since he’s in the picture, I guess the real credit should go to Craig’s camera.

Not in the picture: Dennis, Manoj, Dale and Thomas

Chinese, is already the third largest slice of the blogosphere language pie (8%), as reported by Technorati’s most recent State of the Blogosphere report.  Japanese #1 (37%) and English #2 (36%) are by far the largest languages of the live web. 

Acknowledging the growth potential in China, Intel Capital announced and as covered by InformationWeek, that it’s investing in 51.com, China’s largest social network.  The network already has 60 million users, and is adding five million users a month (a month!). 

While this story received light press coverage, I would hazard a guess that we will be hearing a lot more about 51.com in coming years.  In fact, Reuters wrote yesterday that 51.com is already looking at a possible IPO in three years and is targeting a NASDAQ listing.  

With roughly 20% of the world’s population speaking some form of Chinese; as more people in China network online, the conversation, regardless of the topic, is only going to grow. 

Did anyone see where I put my Rosetta Stone Mandarin CDs?

Recently, Robin Fray Carey wrote a case study on how SAP transformed itself through the use of Social Media.  Its available on the Social Media Today site or you can link directly to the White Paper here.  As an SAP employee, I’m really proud of SDN and BPX but, from the community perspective, there is a lot more to SAP than just SDN and BPX.  We have two less famous but equally important ecosystems called Industry Value Networks and Enterprise Services Community that I am just as proud of. 

Next week we’ll be in Vienna for our European SAPPHIRE conference.  In addition to the Bloggers’ Corner activities as part of our communications center, Mark Yolton and the community folks will have a “Community Lounge” set up on the show floor for all in attendance (including the bloggers.)

Here you will find demos and plenty of conversations with community members from each of the following:

• SAP Developer Network
• Business Process Experts
• Enterprise Services Community
• Industry Value Networks
• As well as the random blogger

Now, you won’t find the “Community Lounge” in the program guide, or the onsite map as it didn’t make it into the printed materials.  The lounge is by the NetWeaver Theater - Here’s a map of the show-floor layout, with the location highlighted next to the NetWeaver Theater:

If the map is a little confusing don’t worry, just ask anyone on the show floor.  You can also keep an eye open for this sign:

See you in Vienna!

I thought that it might be helpful to look at some of the basic conditions under which some of the better social-media practitioners work today.

First, social-media tools are, by nature social. The savviest understand this condition and take great care to build a “social sense” into their programs. For example: (1) ensuring that people with social skills are chosen – or allowed to emerge – to lead projects; (2) appealing to both the group and individual needs of the participants; and (3), where it makes sense, building communities (social networks/hubs) around particular topics/services as a way to scale a population of users. Case studies from social software vendors like ATLASSIAN and Socialtext almost all point to innovation around these three conditions.

Even though the rules trump the tools in social media, it’s important to remember that the digital world is different – generally, it operates more inclusively, openly, and efficiently. So, in addition to being well versed in the social rules, you’ll need to understand some of the light-mathematical subtleties about the Internet, and look for interesting ways to innovate around commonplace principles such as the “long tail” (the value of niche markets and conversations), the wisdom of crowds (peer production), and power-law distributions (the influence of well-networked participants). But these rules, too, might be considered social rules but for the fact that they operate in the digital world.

Finally, some of the leading proponents of social media appear to be saying that these new rules and tools provide businesses with a better way to do old things. This has been a point of frustration for those who are old enough to remember earlier collaboration technologies, and the promises that were made each time those technologies were introduced. As a result, many champions of social media are being forced to make comparisons between the old and the new, and to make the case that social media is in fact something different.

So, is social media in the enterprise “The Next Big Thing?” Jevon MacDonald says Enterprise 2.0 is already happening, you’re just missing it.  I just so happen to agree with Jevon!

What’s going on in the Blogosphere?  Valleywag goes on to ask the question - “Why do you think the number of active bloggers is flat?”  Is it really that simple?  Is it even the right question?  

All they show is a single chart and reference the number of active blogs tracked by Technorati.  Wether that number expands or contracts doesn’t really matter as its not really representative of the larger social media picture.  Its only a single metric and BTW, 15 million bloggers is a lot of bloggers!   

Like all new tools, blogs may have peaked with the early adopters. What may emerge are new tools that cross over to the general market.  And in the meantime, there’s still a lot of blogging upside potential inside of companies. Technorati doesn’t pick up what goes on behind your corporate firewall. I know at SAP the interest in social media is very much on the rise and yes that includes blogs.  In fact, I’d like to take this opportunity introduce you to another new SAP blogger; Amit Chatterjee.  You can check out Amit’s new blog here.

Blogs are only one of the many tools of social media and certainly not the ultimate objective.  While the “blog” gets a lot of attention, I’m not in it for that, I’m in it for what the blog and the other tools of social media represent: The resurrection of the common conversation and the freedom of expression that comes with it.