American Chemical Society Navigating Social Networking and Collaboration Tools Christine Brennan Schmidt, Product Manager, WSO August 17, 2009

American Chemical Society 2 Question 1 How many people belong to a Social Network?

American Chemical Society 3 Outline Social Networking and Collaboration Typical features Examine strengths and weaknesses of various services –Not inclusive – examples of various types of tools –Shameless plug for ACS Network

American Chemical Society 4 Definitions of “Network” Noun –a group of transmitting stations linked by wire or microwave relay so that the same program can be broadcast or telecast by all –any netlike combination of filaments, lines, veins, passages, or the like –a system of interrelated buildings, offices, stations, etc., esp. over a large area or throughout a country, territory, region, etc. –an association of individuals having a common interest, formed to provide mutual assistance, helpful information, or the like

American Chemical Society 5 The Act of Networking Verb –to cultivate people who can be helpful to one professionally, esp. in finding employment or moving to a higher position –to connect to a network –to distribute widely –to organize into a network –to broadcast

American Chemical Society 6 Social Networking and Collaboration Social Networking –definition: the use of a website to connect with people who share personal or professional interests, place of origin, education at a particular school, etc. Collaborate –To work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort Social Networking and Online Collaboration are not always the same thing Often Collaboration results from or after Networking, but not all of this is done online

American Chemical Society 7 Tools for Social Networking Current tools are evolving –Started as either a collaboration or a networking tool –Added features of the other so now they are more similar –Usually stronger in one or the other –Difficult to be all things for all people Question 2 –How many people have participated in online collaboration?

American Chemical Society 8 Features –Profiles –Connections –Blogging –Discussion threads –Sharing documents

American Chemical Society 9 Profiles A Profile allow you to: –To show off –To be found Contains information –Picture –Birthday –Schools –Job (Current and past) –Other Interests involvement

American Chemical Society 10 Profiles

American Chemical Society 11 Connections Friends = Connections = My Network Electronic Rolodex –Collect contact information for friends –Usually permission is granted to be a person’s friend –Allows a view into a profile information that is usually hidden from others Grouping/filtering of friends Some mechanism to communicate

American Chemical Society 12 Connections

American Chemical Society 13 Blogging Allows a posting of some length and regularity to be posted Has a place for users to comment It can be a good place to share part of your life (personal) or announce an event (group or business) Q. How many people here blog

American Chemical Society 14 Blog

American Chemical Society 15 Blog Use RSS feed to insert into social network

American Chemical Society 16 Microblog A microblog is a shortened blog entry. –See these in places like Twitter or Facebook Also known as status update

American Chemical Society 17 Discussion Threads Known by many names –Discussions, Discussion Threads, Threaded discussions, forums Usually a question or provocative thought that calls for a response –Responders usually have to log in Rating of usefulness

American Chemical Society 18 Discussion

American Chemical Society 19 Questions How many people have ever posted to a discussion? How many in the last month? In the last week? How many people read Amazon reviews? How many have posted there?

American Chemical Society 20 Documents Two types –Uploaded Can include any format, including video, power point, word, PDF Usually download to view –Wiki Create right on the web page Editing tools – usually very simple Some allow comparison of version Some allow rules for collaboration Both usually allow some sort of commenting or other feedback

American Chemical Society 21 Question How many people use a wiki? How many have contributed to wiki?

American Chemical Society 22 Comparing Wiki documents

American Chemical Society 23 Different services Facebook LinkedIn Plaxo Yammer CollectiveX ACS Network

American Chemical Society 24 Facebook Started as a social network for college students Both social and professional uses Strengths –Great for networking – find old classmates and coworkers –Easy to pull-in information from other sources –“Wall” is easy place to post information –Microblog – announcements –Third-party applications Weaknesses –Unfocused audience –Hard to do online collaboration (sharing of documents)

American Chemical Society 25 Facebook

American Chemical Society 26 Linked In Started as a place to have a professional profile Meant for professional networking Strengths –Professional networking –Find a job/service –Find a candidate/service provider –Recommendations –Discussions and Groups Weaknesses –Online collaboration

American Chemical Society 27 Linked in

American Chemical Society 28 Plaxo A social network Strengths –Easily pulls in other Web 2.0 activity. Blogs Events and Trips Social Network Reviews and Wishlists Tagging sites Photos Music and videos –Profile, connections, groups Weaknesses –Lacks file sharing or other collaboration tools

American Chemical Society 29 Plaxo

American Chemical Society 30 Yammer Social network for companies – based on common address Strengths –Keep up with colleagues work (Follow people) –Discuss (via reply) –Form Groups (i.e. departments or divisions) –Org chart Weaknesses –No real sharing of files –Limited via address

American Chemical Society 31 Yammer

American Chemical Society 32 CollectiveX Social Collaboration Community Operate via “Groupsites” Strengths –Good for Project Work – team oriented –Calendar –File Sharing –Communicate through discussions, blog, and s –Subgroups Cons –Must login – no externally facing pages –Membership based – managing membership –No wiki document – only uploading of documents

American Chemical Society 33 CollectiveX

American Chemical Society 34 ACS Network ACS Network and collaboration space for chemical community. Hybrid networking and collaboration tool Strengths –Uses ACS ID. Integrated with –Access to chemical community (including local section & division membership) –Groups –Online document sharing – compare wiki documents online –Discussion Thread –Blogs Weaknesses –Still evolving. Improvements in interface and features coming in 2010, Better friending and in-system messaging.

American Chemical Society 35 Others Twitter – microblogging via cell-phone texting Sharepoint – sharing documents online Delicious.com – tagging of content Other technologies for collaboration include WebEx, Whiteboard, etc. MySpace, Flickr ?

American Chemical Society 36 Continue this Discussion on the ACS Network