A Journey In Social Media

Life At 35,000 Feet

This whole subject of social media proficiency and enterprise 2.0 begs for analogies, so let me try a new one on you:

Getting good at this stuff is like an airplane trip.

At the outset of an airplane journey, it's all hassle.  Finding the right flight, getting to the airport, dealing with security, disposing of all your liquids, taking off your shoes -- awful stuff.  At the gate, it's lousy food, no seats, delays and weather, airplanes full of cranky people -- none of it fun.

Eventually, it's time for takeoff.  Lots of rumbling, vibrations and strange noises.  If you've never flown before, you look around and wonder "is all of this normal?".

Finally, you break through the clouds.  The captain turns off the seat belt sign.  Everyone relaxes and settles in.  Drinks are served.  You're on your way.

Well, we're pretty much at that stage in our journey.  We're at cruising altitude.

Before You Go Social, Consider Content

In my travels and discussions on this topic, we often get into an exploration of the interplay between social software (interactions between people) and enterprise content management (the stuff we all use).

And I've come to the viewpoint that many people are considering bypassing an important step in their evolution and proficiency. 

Whether intentional or not, it deserves some exploration.

A Humbling Experience

You know, you go through life thinking you've got some stuff figured out, and -- one day -- you get "schooled" in a very shocking (and beneficial) manner.

I had just such an experience today.

I have seen the future of corporate social media in a way that I did not believe was possible.

I saw it working in ways that I thought were many years away.

And I'm going to have to re-evaluate a few things as a result.

Finally, Product Communities?

I got into this whole social media proficiency thing about a year ago.

My goal? 

Transform how my company (EMC) does business using social techniques.

I am of the belief that communities are perhaps the most valuable social media construct.  And, if one is to think like a corporate strategist, the highest value comes from communities that are aligned with a company's core value propositions.

At its core, EMC is a product and technology company. 

So, of course, one of my early goals were broad, powerful product communities that stretched outside the corporate firewalls.

And -- here we are -- almost a year later -- and we're finally starting to see a grass-roots groundswell in this direction.

So, in the spirit of sharing with others who are trying to do the same thing for their companies, I think it's worth a discussion of just what took so long ...