Social Networking Micro-blogging Here to stay or just another fad?

Who Me? Craig Murphy Scottish Developers Agile Scotland DotNet Developers Group Author, Reviewer, Podcaster

Social Networking FriendsReunited Friendster Plaxo LinkedIn MySpace Bebo Facebook

Social Networking – What’s it about? Generating a network of friends and colleagues – Understanding what they are doing and when – Sharing content, videos, photos, etc.

Social Networking – Finding People Search – Issues related to security [Facebook] Appears to attract folks who you may not have kept in touch with – Why is this?

Social Networking – Addictive? A lot of employers/corporates have blocked social networking URLs – Staff are spending too much time getting their “Facebook time” – Facebook is by no means unique

Social Networking – Ease of Use Networking code and user interface attracts folks from all generations – Many use “cool Web 2.0” features – Ease of use – Massive “reach out” to a variety of data sources

Social Networking – Internal Use? Can we take this code inside the firewall and use its functionality in-house? Many organisations implement their own “people” systems – Rarely are they feature rich user interfaces – Lack “reach out” and integration with other data sources

Social Networking - Security How do such sites verify who you are? – A valid address? – Some sort of human interaction via an SMS and your mobile ‘phone? A lot of fake celebrities on many social networking sites

Social Networking - Security Employees often sign up to more than one social networking site... – They provide a range of personal details to each – Trawling through the sites can reveal a lot information that could be used to steal identity

Micro-Blogging Twitter Pownce Tumblr Jaiku MySay Moodhill Frazr IRateMyDay

Microblogging – What’s it all about? Short trickle fed group messaging – “in a micro-presentation about Web 0.2 by Phil” – “packing for MIX07, travel to London at 1400” Vertical stacked news feed applications – E.g. TeleTwitter

Micro-Blogging – Community Spirit I am enjoying a real community spirit – [from Twitter] It’s great knowing what the [UK] Community folks are doing – I meet a lot of folks 3-4 times per year – Using Micro-Blogging helps keep me aware of what they are doing

Social Networking - Conclusions The Future? – Bring the social networking concept in-house – Make it work internally – Harness the power of the rich UI and data integration – Enjoy cross-company data collaboration

Micro-blogging - Conclusions Micro-blogging – Globally share knowledge and activities across your organisation – Try it: set up a Twitter feed of your own... – Take a look at

Last Words... Sheer profusion of social networking sites and micro-blogging facilities is a problem – “no need for that”, Phil Winstanley 1158 today! Some sites offer post once propagate to many Some sites, e.g. Facebook, offer extensibility via applications – Security concerns (access to contacts, etc.) – Scalablity