Creating Social Network Part 3
Posted in Service Management Update on Jun 6th, 2009 No Comments »
Part 3 of 3
The ability of creating a social network is given to the participants of the system, not management. The success of the system is usually determined by the number of networks found. Though this may not guarantee the quality of the output from these networks, it does demonstrate the effectiveness of building participation which is the basic objective of social networking.
Building participation is done through encouraging use. To this end, three opportunities are exploited: participation, identification, and creativity.
Participation is not restricted to someone joining a network. This can be done by anyone. The basis of this opportunities is what can be done by joining a network. Most of the tools and systems available to a single network will be available to all networks, such as email, instant messaging, calendaring, event planning, collaboration and the like. The more that can be done as a participant, the more exposure the participant has to what’s going on within the network.
A key driver for participant is identification, primarily with other participants along interests, goals, or function. In systems where participants have a limited number of groupings to identify with, the less participation that will occur. In social networking, the goal is to provide a wide rage of possibilities for individuals to identify themselves with other individuals. Increase the capacity to increase these possibilities, as well as identifying existing possibilities, and creating a social network is much easier.
Creativity completes the aesthetic component of creating social networks. The truth is nobody wants to work with a system that is boring and hard to use. The look and feel of the system is a great marketing tool for participation. The ease of working with others is another consideration to take on. The ability to personalize the interface into the social network allows the participant the ability to add to the creativity of the system – an appealing method of encouraging activity.
Whatever the solution for creating groups and linking them together, ensure that it promotes participation identification, and creativity.
