I think the microsharing functionality of clients like Socialcast or Yammer or others make a lot of sense in Enterprise. I know in the kind of work I currently do, this way of collaboration would be much more effective and productive.
I suspect that organizations may in fact derive more benefit by using these services internally before using them externally. So yes, I think we could use more Chatter in the Batter.
Gregg Morris
· 7 months ago
I really think you're onto something with this. I ran a Windows development firm for almost 15 years and this would solve three of the biggest business flow problems we had. I think it's a wonderful way to engage remote workers and make them feel part of the daily office flow. I also think it might just eliminate the need for all of those useless meetings that seem to make their way into the daily flow. Using a system like this one could just "chatter" away. Those who wanted to engage could do so and those who would do nothing other than 'participate' in a meeting would be freed to do other, hopefully more useful, things. Lastly, it might make it possible to alleviate what I used to call 'jack rabbit syndrome'. People who constantly feel the need to jump out of their chairs and interrupt someone else's workflow would have a business/corporate mandated mechanism with which they could "chatter" away. I feel certain that as the day goes on and I think more about this I'll see many more uses for a system like this. I would encourage you to keep after this. The ability to distribute documents and the tagging and search features have a real possibility to enhance workflow in a way that tools like Sharepoint and IM systems never could.
jd
· 7 months ago
how is socialcast better than friendfeed?
Jamie Favreau
· 7 months ago
I guess if you are used to the entire hash tag system this would be good. If you are not technically savvy this could be a problem. The microsharing content is great but it is something you have to get used too. If you aren't used to it there is going to be a struggle with the other workers.
Brian
· 7 months ago
The #followup tag got me thinking about the concept of having mutable metadata inserted into the content of a status update. I'm disappointed in how people are emulating Twitter to the point of avoiding innovation. If a tool is going to be intended to be used in ways like this, why can't they *extend* the Twitter model to allow meta information to be separate from the content of messages? (it could still easily allow #hashtag syntax within messages)
Being able to add/remove metadata (such as a "followup" tag) is just one type of evolution. Why not add time-sensitive information, like project milestone deadlines and whatnot? Obviously, content-embedded tags formatted as "#due20090523" and "#due20090523" can't be sorted easily. Having a metadata layer on top of the messages would allow fields like this being tied to messages with simple relational-database methods.
Cheap Charlie
· 7 months ago
I am not a user of Socialcast, but I work independently and to tell you the trught, it sounds a bit complicated to me. I might find it useful for maintaing client notes and follow up information.
Siobhan
· 7 months ago
AH! I see you met the incomparable Scotty D when you were here. Well, then your visit did not go to waste. :)
A lot of people have tried out Yammer at the Ed but it's hardly used at all. It seemed like everyone just went back to IM and email because there wasn't enough critical mass to make it useful. And there, then, is the problem; not everyone's going to pile in to try and do that without a reason to. Chicken, egg.
Carrie Young, Socialcast
· 7 months ago
Thanks for the great post, Chris.
I think one simple way that a "chatter channel" can benefit businesses is that it simply documents, stores, and organizes this casual conversation. There's no other way in business to do this - unless you're writing a formal email or posting to a wiki, the ideas you've got swirling around in your brain either stay up there or only exist between you and the person you verbally share them with. When a company can capture discussions that normally aren't retained, it creates a whole new hub of knowledge that the company can tap into.
For some of the posters below, here are a few answers to you questions. First, Socialcast is different than Friendfeed because it's a private network only for your company's employees. What you share stays within the company. As far as complexity concerns go, there are definitely other ways to filter content vs. tags. While using tags is by far the most efficient way to organize your data, you can also use custom categories and public and private groups. Finally, while there are benefits to a one-person operation (documenting links, using it as a personal idea documentation tool, storing documents) - Socialcast was designed for enterprise use. So, having critical mass is important. We see highly successful sites with 5-20 people, but the real power is when you have many, many users.
tom martin
· 7 months ago
Chris,
Interesting to see how y'all are using it. We've not tried SocialCast yet but we have played around with Yammer. Mostly we've used it to create a web based knowledge base and by making disciplined use of hastags we've come up with a pretty nice little knowledge base with no real expenditure of time or money.
Have y'all considered that aspect yet with SocialCast? Given your team's need to stay abreast of information and insight... might be a cool thing to consider.
All Comments
I suspect that organizations may in fact derive more benefit by using these services internally before using them externally. So yes, I think we could use more Chatter in the Batter.
Being able to add/remove metadata (such as a "followup" tag) is just one type of evolution. Why not add time-sensitive information, like project milestone deadlines and whatnot? Obviously, content-embedded tags formatted as "#due20090523" and "#due20090523" can't be sorted easily. Having a metadata layer on top of the messages would allow fields like this being tied to messages with simple relational-database methods.
A lot of people have tried out Yammer at the Ed but it's hardly used at all. It seemed like everyone just went back to IM and email because there wasn't enough critical mass to make it useful. And there, then, is the problem; not everyone's going to pile in to try and do that without a reason to. Chicken, egg.
I think one simple way that a "chatter channel" can benefit businesses is that it simply documents, stores, and organizes this casual conversation. There's no other way in business to do this - unless you're writing a formal email or posting to a wiki, the ideas you've got swirling around in your brain either stay up there or only exist between you and the person you verbally share them with. When a company can capture discussions that normally aren't retained, it creates a whole new hub of knowledge that the company can tap into.
For some of the posters below, here are a few answers to you questions. First, Socialcast is different than Friendfeed because it's a private network only for your company's employees. What you share stays within the company. As far as complexity concerns go, there are definitely other ways to filter content vs. tags. While using tags is by far the most efficient way to organize your data, you can also use custom categories and public and private groups. Finally, while there are benefits to a one-person operation (documenting links, using it as a personal idea documentation tool, storing documents) - Socialcast was designed for enterprise use. So, having critical mass is important. We see highly successful sites with 5-20 people, but the real power is when you have many, many users.
Interesting to see how y'all are using it. We've not tried SocialCast yet but we have played around with Yammer. Mostly we've used it to create a web based knowledge base and by making disciplined use of hastags we've come up with a pretty nice little knowledge base with no real expenditure of time or money.
Have y'all considered that aspect yet with SocialCast? Given your team's need to stay abreast of information and insight... might be a cool thing to consider.
@TomMartin