| |
|
|
|
Emerging Technologies
|
|
Find out about the latest technology developments and discuss social networking tools and other Web 2.0 applications and how they can help your organization.
Hosted by: Matthew Saunders, Elliot Harmon of TechSoup and TS Moderator.
|
|
The TechSoup Community will not permit spamming or member abuse. Questions?
|
|
|
|
|
Topic: ONLINE EVENT-Online Social Networking/ Intro
|
|
jlorance
Member
Subscribe to Author
Member Profile
Total Posts: 297
Joined:
|
 ONLINE EVENT-Online Social Networking/ Intro
Posted: April 19 2006 6:13 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Welcome to day 1 of 2 of the TechSoup event to focus discussion and shed some light on online social networking (OSN) platforms and what they mean and could mean to non-profit organizations.
While this event will be led by various folks from TechSoup, OSN platforms, and other co-hosts, this is a free and open discussion. Therefore, please ask questions, share your stories, and share your visions for what these kinds of platforms could do.
All links referred to in our posts will be available at: Delicious Tag ts-osn-event. We encourage you to add your own links which relate to online social networks, whether it be a network, or information about how to use them, etc.
So, lets get started.....
- What do we mean by Social Networking applications?
Loosely, I guess you could consider it just about anyway people can connect with each other. This can happen loosely through content (for example Delicious); however, platforms like Tribe, LinkedIn, Friendster, Care2, etc have built applications which make connecting to the real humans behind the scenes easier. These platform are often referred to as FOAF (Friend-of-a-Friend) platforms that allow you to use the web to easily navigate people instead of just data and documents. While this happens in the offline world; these platforms provide a level of effeciency that is unparalleled in offline organizing. When these platforms hit a critical mass, each of these platforms represents a significant community of people and just like in the offline world, each community exists seperately and also overlaps and co-exists.
Below is a short (but comprehensive list) of these platforms organized by focus of community.
PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING
www.linkedin.com
www.ryze.com
GENERAL SOCIAL NETWORKS
www.tribe.net
www.friendster.com
www.orkut.com
PRIMARILY YOUTH AUDIENCE
www.myspace.com
www.tagged.com ;
www.tagworld.com
COMMUNITIES FOCUSED AROUND IMAGES
www.flickr.com
www.textamerica.com
www.yafro.com
VALUES ORIENTED
www.care2connect.com - Progressive-value and activist focused.
www.gather.com - Public Radio and social issue focused.
www.xianz.com – Christian focused
OTHER
www.last.fm - Music-oriented OSN
www.facebook.com – College-oriented OSN
www.everyonesconnected.com – British-based OSN
What most of these platforms have in common is a way for people to connect with others through various common interests. Sometimes connecting directly, and sometimes through another friend.
Now, with all of these networks, which one should you choose? Well, just like in the offline world, we all participate in a number of networks, so there's no need to choose just one... However, a critical mass of your "friends" on any of these will greatly increase the value of that platform.
Which one(s) do you use? I know for myself, I've been a periodic user of Tribe.net, LinkedIn.com, and now actively use Last.fm (however, not for the networking part yet). I'm currently exploring how I can use RSS to keep up with each platform w/o having to directly log in daily.
How can your organization use these? My first suggestion would be to evalute professional networking platforms like LinkedIn and perhaps look for ways to integrate these platforms into your new hire process as a means to build your own professional network. Perhaps use something like Tribe to build a "tribe" which represents some social aspects of people in your organization.
What do you use? and how?
John Lorance
CompuMentor/TechSoup
[This message was last edited by Susan_Tenby on Apr 20, 2006]
|
aldon
Member
Subscribe to Author
Member Profile
Total Posts: 3
Joined: April 2006
|
 RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 7:11 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Here is a brief run down of the online social networks that I use:
www.linkedin.com
I have 138 direct connections for a network of over 1.4 million people. I like LinkedIn because it has managed to bridge some of the different social networks I am in. I’ve passed on requests from time to time, but haven’t used it extensively.
www.ryze.com
I have 19 friends on Ryze which expands out to 624 friends of friends. I have the basic membership. I am somewhat active in the blogs and blogging group there, which I receive email notifications about.
www.tribe.net
I have 24 friends on Tribe. I subscribe to some Tribe lists via email and others via RSS. I like the geographic localization of Tribe, but really haven’t seen much good from it.
www.friendster.com
31 Friends, 962 once removed. I don’t go here very often. I’m a member of a Statewide group, and use it a little bit for politics.
www.orkut.com
74 Friends connected to over 16 million people, most of whom seem to live in Brazil. I’m a member of nine communities there, but rarely visit the site.
www.myspace.com
12 friends, total network over 72 million people. I use this a bit for political outreach. I get some emails about people updating blogs there.
www.flickr.com
I have twelve friends there. I mostly use this for photo sharing, and have my cellphone configured to send photos directly to flickr and then on to my personal blog. I use it a little for political organizing.
www.care2connect.com
I have an account there and get emails. I like the idea. However, I haven’t added any friends there or explored the network.
www.gather.com
I have one connection there and haven’t really gotten involved, although I like the concept of gather a lot as well.
www.facebook.com
I’m long gone from college and don’t have a .edu email address, so I’ve never used it.
http://www.omidyar.net/
This wasn’t mentioned in the list, but I believe is another important online community/social network. While it doesn’t behave like other social networks, there are some similarities. So, instead of friends, there are 41 people that I’ve given positive feedback to. I really like this community, but I’ve been very busy and haven’t been there for a while.
|
Chris Law
Guest
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 7:30 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Hi All,
My name is Chris Law and I was one of the founders of Tribe.net. I'm not there any longer but I do have a love of the community and a lot of scars from them too.
I will share some stories about what I think works and doesn't work for people who want to set up communities and I am happy to answer questions as well.
Chris
|
tutormentor
TechSoup Star
Subscribe to Author
E-mail tutormentor
Send a Private Message to tutormentor
Member Profile
Total Posts: 65
Joined: February 2001
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 7:31 AM
|
Post Reply
|
I participate in a variety of on-line communities where people with different agendas and interests gather and share ideas. I've met many interesting people and learned new ideas. I have coined a term for these: horizontal communities. Tech Soup is a great example. People with an interest in technology come here, but they represent lots of different causes.
I lead a network called the Tutor/Mentor Connection. I host web sites such as http://msg.uc.iupui.edu/TMC/html/index.php where all of the information focuses around volunteer-based tutoring/mentoring and one question: "What are all the things we need to do to assure that every youth born in poverty today is starting a job/career by age 25?" As I move through the year, I organize events that draw attention to this cause, based on what's happening in the world. In May I'll be hosting a variety of on-line discussions focused on this topic. I call this a "vertical network" because everything focus on a long term goal. Most of the people who come into the forums share some part of that goal.
To me, most of the social network tools I've found, like Linked In, are horizontal, they bring people together, and in some cases help people group by geography, or issue. However, they don't have an agenda, or cause, that intends to mobilize people who visit the community to do actions that would support the cause.
What's your feeling on this?
------------------
Daniel F. Bassill
President
Tutor/Mentor Connection
Cabrini Connections
800 W. Huron
Chicago, Il. 60622
312-492-9614
http://www.tutormentorconnection.org
|
rubyji
Member
Subscribe to Author
E-mail rubyji
Send an AIM message to this user
Member Profile
Total Posts: 32
Joined: March 2001
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 8:53 AM
|
Post Reply
|
I'll follow-up on Aldon's post with a list of the top 10 social networking sites I use. This is something I originally called network-centric tools for activists.
In each case, the hyperlinked 'example' will take you to my page on that site. One of the important aspects of online social networking is that individuals can create and manage their own identity with which to interact with the comunity. - del.icio.us bookmarks
Save and organize bookmarks with tags, and browse the tags of others. (example) - flickr photo & album sharing
Upload and tag photos and add them to groups. Browse photos by personal contacts, tag, date, or "interestingness." (example) - bloglines aggregator
Collect and organize RSS feeds. See how many other users subscribe to each feed. Now you can read (or at least skim) lots of blogs and other sites with feeds. (example) - friendster the original social networking site
Make your own profile, connect to friends, browse by connections, interests, geography, etc. Send announcements to your network, make matches between friends and colleagues. tribe net, orkut, linked in, and my space are also popular with different communities. (example) - last.fm show off your great musical taste
Track the music you play to generate charts and recommendations. Tag music, and listen to radio stations based on tags or similar artists. Connect to friends, join interest groups, converse in forums. Use RSS feeds to publish your listening data on your own blog. (example) - wikipedia collaborative wisdom
This is a great place to find information, on everything from global politics to new technology. You can contribute your own knowledge for public benefit, and even create new pages for topics you think are missing. (example - "nonprofit technology" entry) - 43things sharing and supporting goals
List your personal goals, find people with common goals and support each other. See also 43people, and 43places. (example) - blogging
There are so many tools, and the right just depends on what your needs are. The most social one is Live Journal, the absolutely simplest is Blogger, the most powerful is Drupal. MovableType and it's hosted version TypePad are also popular. I usually recommend Wordpress because it is powerful and flexible without being difficult to use. Free hosted blogs are available at Wordpress.com (example - one of my wordpress blogs)
When you blog, your posts go into a standardized feed (see #3 above), which can be understood by other sites. You can automatically 'ping' sites like Technorati when you publish so that more people will be able to find your blog. - instant messaging
As with blogging, there are many viable choices. For IM (instant messaging), get a multi-protocol client so you can use different systems with one application (Windows: Trillian, Mac: Adium or Fire). The different protocols or networks include: AOL, Yahoo, Google Talk. - Internet phone
VOIP (voice over IP) not only allows you to talk person-to-person for free, it allows for conference calling and other features. Skype is the most widely adopted, but Gizmo is also a good option. Runners up These didn't make the top 10, but are worth checking out. - jotspot & jotspot tracker
Create a shared workspace (wiki) that is simple to use. Share spreadsheets, chart data on a calendar or Google map. - frappr
Seems to combine several of the above into one social, networking, and mapping site. (example) - wayfaring
Make dynamic maps with custom location and paths. Save maps, browse others' maps by location or tag. Uses the Google Maps API. (example) With all of the examples above I have now given you 10 new ways to communicate with and relate to me. Come visit me on 43 things or last.fm...
[This message was last edited by rubyji on Apr 19, 2006]
|
claw
Member
Subscribe to Author
Member Profile
Total Posts: 11
Joined: April 2006
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 8:56 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Reposting because I wasn't logged in the first time! I swear I'll figure out this technology thing.
---
My name is Chris Law and I was one of the founders of Tribe.net. I'm not there any longer but I do have a love of the community and a lot of scars from them too.
I will share some stories about what I think works and doesn't work for people who want to set up communities and I am happy to answer questions as well.
Chris
------------------
Chris Law
VP Products
Aggregate Knowledge
|
claw
Member
Subscribe to Author
Member Profile
Total Posts: 11
Joined: April 2006
|
 RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 8:59 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Aldon and Rubyli - I'm fascinated that you use so many social networking sites at once. Is that normal for other folks checking in on this forum?
The research I've done in focus groups, surveys etc. indicated that most people if they belong to a social network belong to at most 2 at once because it's too much time to keep up with them all.
Thoughts?
------------------
Chris Law
VP Products
Aggregate Knowledge
|
claw
Member
Subscribe to Author
Member Profile
Total Posts: 11
Joined: April 2006
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 9:04 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Daniel - you were talking about bring people together around an issue rather than a horizontal group.
I think that this is definitely an area that would work well. Social networks and communities thrive around passionate users.
When I was at Tribe we were talking to Bono's group One.org about helping them create a community. We never managed to get it off the ground for a variety of reasons but I think that there is a lot of merit to the idea.
I don't specifically know about other examples of issues based communites and social networks. Anyone else have some good examples?
------------------
Chris Law
VP Products
Aggregate Knowledge
|
Tia Carr Williams
Guest
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 9:06 AM
|
Post Reply
|
My name is Tia Carr Williams, COO of amodus.org.uk, a new environment created because of my need for deeper conversation and intelligent exchange with peers and professionals.
All the 'usual suspects' which I belong to failed to address some of the needs I had be wanting and drove the creation of amodus. Built on Sossoon platform technology I am acutely aware of the way the community is evolving and behaviours of adaption that registrants are evolving to find value in the time they invest in community and online. With so many choices..its almost a case of water water everywhere and not a drop to drink.....
Users are like me..and want outcomes to the engagement not just a rolodex of strangers passing in the night.
Creating environments for value circles to evolve seems to be a key driver currently and how many of the current providers are addressing those needs?
|
rubyji
Member
Subscribe to Author
E-mail rubyji
Send an AIM message to this user
Member Profile
Total Posts: 32
Joined: March 2001
|
 RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 9:18 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Chris, that's a good question. I don't think I'm normal in this regard. Not only am I a geek, but I have a strange desire to fill out profile forms repeatedly...
Looking at my non-geek friends as a more typical example (of middle class, liberal, thirty-somethings online) I can tell you that they tend to pick one or two in which to invest their time. But it changes over time. Two years ago, everyone was playing with friendster, now they are much more active on flickr and I'm starting to turn them on to bloglines.
(I actually like tribe.net the best, but I can't get a critical mass of my friends there.)
It's also worth nothing that bloggers may be more likely to use tools like technorati and del.icio.us when they can be used to help promote their ideas and connect to like-minded people. We (bloggers) also enjoy tools like last.fm, which make it easy to put a little of our personality (in this case our love of music) on our blogs.
|
phoutz
Member
Subscribe to Author
E-mail phoutz
Member Profile
Total Posts: 5
Joined: April 2006
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 9:38 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Hi. I'm Phil Houtz, I've got a background in advertising and massive content management. I'm currently investigating ways to use my prodigious abilities to help social sector entities with "meaning making," branding and other forms of promotion. I "came up" online in MUDS, Rheingold's Electric Minds and Brainstorms communities. Currently have a toe in Linked In, Tribe.net, Monster, and the blogosphere.
Now to the topic in question--
It seems to me that the utility of most FOAF networks (ie Linked In) is seriously compromised by the fact that you are limited to contacts within the network.
For instance, I'd love to meet Kevin Kelly and hear his thoughts on religion. But if Kevin Kelly isn't on Linked In, then I can't use my Linked In contacts to get access.
What this means, I suppose, is that if you wanted to use a FOAF system for "relationship marketing" you'd have to work all of the systems to get good results.
|
DavidaP
Member
Subscribe to Author
Member Profile
Total Posts: 3
Joined: April 2006
|
 RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 9:47 AM
|
Post Reply
|
http://my.care2.com/pandatron
I am a long time care2.com supporting member (first joined for web-mail and greeting cards) and have watched care2connect grow into a strong interactive community. I was one of the pen and paper type activist for many years, but have found that with this new enviroment I can be much more effective. It is easier to keep up with the variety of news and opinion available, as well as take part in actions across the globe rather than just local issues. 114 Friends 12,595 Friends of Friends
64,564 in my network
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/my_eternal_curse/
I have also been a regular member of yahoo groups which is primarlly for fun, but a number of these groups are also social issue bassed.
So I don't see myself using as many groups as described in previous posts here, but in just a few years my online social network has really grown. I accepted care2's invite today so I can learn more about how this works.
------------------
|
Silona
Guest
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 9:54 AM
|
Post Reply
|
I am also on omidyar.net and I adore the reputation system just wish the interface was a bit easier to navigate... kinda like this event. So much to read and I feel like I miss new interesting linkages by purely searching instead of browsing.
|
claw
Member
Subscribe to Author
Member Profile
Total Posts: 11
Joined: April 2006
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 10:12 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Phil - you bring up a good point. How do I reach people when they are there across a variety of different networks?
You're right that in order to get to everybody you would have to join all the networks and even then you wouldn't have all of them.
In my opinion this is why the communities that are targetted around topics of common interest are the most interesting. For example, you know if you're a college student that your friends are going to be on Facebook, or if you're a technology professional that other tech professionals are going to be on Linked In or if you love dogs then you'll find other dog lovers on Dogster.
I think there's a real opportunity to create other communities around groups of like minded people. I know of folks who are starting other social networks designed to create communities for people who are grappling with disease as well as other life changes.
------------------
Chris Law
VP Products
Aggregate Knowledge
|
philklein
TechSoup Royalty
Subscribe to Author
E-mail philklein
Member Profile
Total Posts: 422
Joined: February 2001
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 10:16 AM
|
Post Reply
|
regarding Chris' question on using so many social network tools, I think he's raised a crucial issue -- there are too many social networking islands, which seriously impairs their utility. For example, in my case, there are a bunch that I have used, but few that I can count on being able to use regularly because some or most of the people i want to use them aren't there. I'm a web application producer and consultant to nonprofits.
Soc Networking tools I use once a week or more:
Bloglines - as reader
Flickr - as reader
Delicious- as editor and reader
SocialText - as editor and reader
PBwiki - as editor and reader
Blog: .Text (which I'll soon dump for wordpress or other) - as editor and reader.
Listservs - about 15 as reader and 5 as reader/editor
TechSoup - Reader/editor
What I use less often than once a week
Frappr
LinkedIn
Upcoming
43Things
Omidyar.net
Calendars.net
Craigslist
This is already a list too long for me to manage well. Simply changing blog software is painful. Trying to coordinate or integrate use of these tools is mostly impossible. Nonetheless, having contained social networking commnunities such as wikis and others above has created powerful new capabilities for producing results in my work and personal lives.
------------------
[This message was last edited by philklein on Apr 19, 2006]
|
silona
Member
Subscribe to Author
E-mail silona
Send a Private Message to silona
Member Profile
Total Posts: 14
Joined: April 2006
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 10:21 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Could we also have an open API so that people can choose how and when to share those profiles?
I am creating a profile for my participants that gather a significant amt of information and also contains a membership based verification of identity system. I am going to have that information open so that if participants want to share that data - they will be able to.
Is there something out there that already exists?
------------------
|
silona
Member
Subscribe to Author
E-mail silona
Send a Private Message to silona
Member Profile
Total Posts: 14
Joined: April 2006
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 10:26 AM
|
Post Reply
|
that is one reason why I was suggesting creating an umbrella for all of NPO's and technical organizations at least. You know kind of like what orkut did with the communities.
I am also experiencing burnout. I never check friendster and I have left orkut and tribe fall by the wayside. My main points now are flickr, Live journal and omidyar.net.
I like the old interface rule of 3-8 applies here as well. Except for the most social.
------------------
|
claw
Member
Subscribe to Author
Member Profile
Total Posts: 11
Joined: April 2006
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 10:27 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Silona - there is an XML standard called FOAF that is available. Tribe and Ecademy support it.
You can find out more here:
http://www.foaf-project.org/
------------------
Chris Law
VP Products
Aggregate Knowledge
|
tutormentor
TechSoup Star
Subscribe to Author
E-mail tutormentor
Send a Private Message to tutormentor
Member Profile
Total Posts: 65
Joined: February 2001
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 10:38 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Phil, thanks for introducing yourself. I think we need more people with advertising experience in order to answer Chris's question "How do I reach people when they are there across a variety of different networks?"
I agree that communities of interest will attract people with common goals, but there are probably thousands of different communities that share the same interests. They may be competing with each other for members, and even funding.
I think that social network analysis tools can help overcome this. For instance, I use GIS maps to show where poverty is most concentrated in Chicago and where poorly performing schools are located. These are places where tutor/mentor programs are located. I plot the location of existing programs, by age group and type of program. This shows that most programs are in different neighborhoods, thus instead of competing, they could be working together to increase invovlement.
In the LINKS section of my web site I include links to those programs with web sites, as well as to more than 1000 other organizations, and communities, where people are learning about poverty, poor schools, etc. By building this resource, it becomes a resource for others, who link to my site. If enough people do this it raises our listing on Google search, and becomes another way to draw members to our community.
I had a 17 year advertising career with a large corporation and every week we sent out 3 waves of ads to 20 million people inviting them to visit one of our 400 stores. I don't have ad dollars, so the only way to extend an invitation to visit my web site, or a tutor/mentor program shown on the map, is to create events that draw attention to tutoring/mentoring, and to teach volunteers and leaders to spider out through the various social networks and communities to a) share information; b) encourage visits to our community.
If this is done consistently it can build a connection between the various communities who focus on the same issue, and provide a navigation path for people who enter looking for information, or friends, or a place to get involved.
------------------
Daniel F. Bassill
President
Tutor/Mentor Connection
Cabrini Connections
800 W. Huron
Chicago, Il. 60622
312-492-9614
http://www.tutormentorconnection.org
|
ssem10
Member
Subscribe to Author
E-mail ssem10
Send a Private Message to ssem10
Member Profile
Total Posts: 19
Joined:
|
RE: Online Event:-OSN: Day 1
Posted: April 19 2006 10:44 AM
|
Post Reply
|
Here are the networking I sites I use-
Friendster, Myspace, and Facebook to keep in touch with friends and reconnect with others I know
LinkedIn to keep in touch with contacts I make through e-mail lists and websites. I use this the most for networking. I search for people who might help me with my career goals and ask my connections to forward requests. As I am searching for a nonprofit position in another location, this is a great tool for me to use to make new contacts.
Del.icio.us to keep my bookmarks in one place and share with others. I use this the most to share nonprofit technology links with the tags nptech and net2. I also create my own tags to keep things organized for myself on other projects I am involved in.
Flickr I use to be a part of the groups on there like the netsquared group. I also upload images for me to use in my blog postings.
How can nonprofits use these tools?
Facebook- Even though this is a college network, there are probably nonprofit related events or student groups at colleges. If there is an event or student group, someone involved in these should start a group on their college facebook for others on there to join.
If there is an event going on, you can invite people to the event or place an ad on the facebook.
Friendster and Myspace - Both of these have groups on there and there is a nonprofit category. Start a group for your nonprofit. Make an account for your organization, campaign, or issue to support. Your new account will allow others to add you as a friend.
On Friendster you can search users by location, affiliations, and companies.
LinkedIn - If you are interested in finding others who are in the nonprofit sector, search for them by selecting fund-raising, international trade and development, non-profit organization management, philanthropy, program development, and/or think tanks under Organizations and Nonprofit.
You can also search by keyword using nonprofit or not-for-profit or any other related term to find users. Some users who work for a nonprofit might put an industry like Internet or Information Technology if they have tech position with a nonprofit. You can also find people who work with nonprofits and volunteers by searching by keyword.
You can search by location, company (including companies used to work for), and job title.
How can we connect with each other on these networks?
We should come up with a word/phrase to put in our profiles to connect with each other. For example, on LinkedIn I put nonprofit technology for my interests. If more people put nonprofit technology in their interests or Techsoup in their affilations, we can connect with each other better.
You can also add a link to your profiles on your blog or website.
Emily
------------------
[This message was last edited by ssem10 on Apr 19, 2006]
|
|
|
