When social means business: the potential of social computing tools to support collaborative work as part of the organis

1. When social means business: the potential of social computing tools to support collaborative work as part of the organisational information infrastructure Dr Hazel Hall Reader in Social Informatics Centre for Social Informatics School of Computing Edinburgh Napier University

2. Room demographics Who uses what for purposes of collaborative work? • Blogs? • Wikis? • Social networking? • Instant messaging? • Microblogging?

3. Purposes of the TFPL-Napier study Establish main opportunities and risks of social computing tools within organisations for collaborative work purposes, as perceived by information and knowledge management professionals • Meet general interest of TFPL’s client base • Inform TFPL’s training and consultancy portfolio • Serve as pilot for larger, externally-funded piece of work

4. Focus on social computing tools Establish main opportunities and risks of social computing tools within organisations for collaborative work purposes, as perceived by information and knowledge management professionals • Licensed collaborative work platforms, e.g. SharePoint (Microsoft), Lotus Notes and Quickplace (IBM), E-rooms (Documentum) • “Mature” social software applications, e.g. instant messaging, blogs, wikis • Newer Web 2.0 applications, e.g. social networking, microblogging

5. Focus on collaborative work purposes Establish main opportunities and risks of social computing tools within organisations for collaborative work purposes, as perceived by information and knowledge management professionals • Focus to date • Freely available social software for personal use • Academic studies that treat “older” applications in non-corporate environments, e.g. educational settings • Few studies on internal social computing environments • Lack of extant literature on newer tools, e.g. social networking and microblogging applications

6. Focus on perceptions of I&KM community Establish main opportunities and risks of social computing tools within organisations for collaborative work purposes, as perceived by information and knowledge management professionals • Rather than: • Journalists, e.g. concern over vulnerable groups • Educational researchers, e.g. goal of enhancement of classroom environment • Public relations professionals, e.g. efforts to improve corporate communications

7. Research focus 1: scale of implementation Organisational uptake of social computing • Levels of adoption • Degree of access to tools • In general • By tool • By tool function Attitudes of IM/KM staff to social computing • In general • By tool

8. Research foci 2 & 3: opportunity & risk Anticipated & actual, feared & realised (literature review)

9. Research activities: 12 weeks 2008

10. Hazel Hall and Shooresh Golzari based at Napier in Edinburgh Focus group held at IDOX offices in Glasgow (31/07/08) Respondents to web-based survey (07-14/07/08) and participants in telephone interviews (28/07 -01/08/08) based across the UK Melanie Goody and Belinda Blaswick based at TFPL in London Focus group held at IDOX/TFPL offices in London (23/07/08)

11. Data subjects Population • TFPL contacts • Direct, e.g. clients, attendees at SharePoint Summits • Indirect, e.g. through the Scottish Information Network Invitation to participate • Face-to-face at TFPL Connect meeting June 2008 • Survey and focus groups: by e-mail invitation • Possible to attend focus group, but not complete survey • Interviews: volunteers left contact details on survey

12. Study contributions Survey majority from public sector organisations. Organisation size = median 725 employees. *It was possible to make more than one contribution to the research, e.g. all who were interviewed completed the survey (96-14=82); similarly it was possible to complete the survey anonymously and attend a focus group.

13. Data collected, recorded & analysed

14. Uptake of social computing for collaborative work Range in levels of adoption Sophisticated implementations with integrated “consumer” & licensed applications Non-provision

15. Uptake of social computing for collaborative work Range in levels of adoption Sophisticated implementations with integrated “consumer” & licensed applications Sense that the study came “too early” High number of “don’t know” and “neutral” responses to survey questions Two thirds of respondents who provided additional free text comments at end of survey noted that the impacts of social computing were yet to be felt Interviewees were cautious in drawing firm conclusions Non-provision

16. Access and encouragement

17. Access and encouragement Public sector Higher levels of access and encouragement Private sector Greater levels of actual usage Restricted use Reported by 24% survey respondents Change management investment concerns Even/especially in cases of high financial outlay

18. Enthusiasm amongst IM and KM staff Levels of enthusiasm for social computing for collaborative work amongst IM and KM staff = high • Increases collaboration and improves productivity in general • Facilitates knowledge and information sharing • Connects individuals and groups • Widens communication channels • Enhances IM practice • More obvious and better organisation of resources • Consolidation of material and reduction of silos • 24 hour access • Induces positive cultural change, e.g. widened employee choice  retention

19. The biggest risk?

20. The biggest risk? Failure to capitalise on opportunities offered by social computing tools due to poor implementation management • Respondents familiar with this risk from earlier experiences, e.g. intranet developments from mid-90s onwards • This risk is not considered in the literature Like most things it’s about cultural change. A tool (however clever) can be used well/badly. Therefore usual considerations apply around what purpose does it serve, selling it to the business, understanding business benefits/risks, giving staff skills to use [it/them] properly, providing standards and guidance around use, encouraging good practice.

21. Less prominent risks IM problems • Information sprawl (but not overload); archiving; means of accessing archives; (version control and information quality) Compromised security • (Legal infringement and disrepute theoretically valid, though not realised in practice); some leakage of confidential information Lowered productivity • Coping with IM problems; failure to adopt social computing tools • “If employees are going to waste time, they do not need social computing tools to do it” (Anti-social behaviour)

22. Top tools for IM and KM professionals

23. Tool availability & usefulness

24. Tool availability, usefulness & usage

25. Tool availability, usefulness & usage

26. Tool availability, usefulness & usage

27. Tool availability, usefulness & usage • Ready availability of a tool does not guarantee popularity • Under-exploitation of most valuable tools? • Microblogging is barely on the radar, yet consider its features…

28. Microblogging Elements of social networking • End user determines source of information flow based on “social network” that he/she builds Elements of instant messaging • Interactions are brief and to the point, real time, “familiar” format Elements of wiki • Public nature of conversations encourages collaborative building of new knowledge Elements of blogging • Microblog, with easy linking to other resources

29. Microblogging Elements of social networking • End user determines source of information flow based on “social network” that he/she builds Elements of instant messaging • Interactions are brief and to the point, real time, “familiar” format Elements of wiki • Public nature of conversations encourages collaborative building of new knowledge Elements of blogging • Microblog, with easy linking to other resources Plus elements of conversation, providing: 1. Meta-knowledge 2. Problem reformulation 3. Validation 4. Legitimisation

30. 5 stages of Twitter acceptance http://www.slideshare.net/minxuan/how-twitter-changed-my-life-presentation Denial I think Twitter sounds stupid. Why would anyone care what other people are doing right now?

31. 5 stages of Twitter acceptance http://www.slideshare.net/minxuan/how-twitter-changed-my-life-presentation Presence OK, I don’t really get why people love it, but I guess I should at least create an account. Denial I think Twitter sounds stupid. Why would anyone care what other people are doing right now?

32. 5 stages of Twitter acceptance http://www.slideshare.net/minxuan/how-twitter-changed-my-life-presentation Dumping I’m on Twitter and use it for pasting links to my blog posts and pointing people to my press releases. Presence OK, I don’t really get why people love it, but I guess I should at least create an account. Denial I think Twitter sounds stupid. Why would anyone care what other people are doing right now?

33. 5 stages of Twitter acceptance http://www.slideshare.net/minxuan/how-twitter-changed-my-life-presentation Conversing I don’t always post useful stuff, but I do use Twitter to have authentic 1x1 conversations. Dumping I’m on Twitter and use it for pasting links to my blog posts and pointing people to my press releases. Presence OK, I don’t really get why people love it, but I guess I should at least create an account. Denial I think Twitter sounds stupid. Why would anyone care what other people are doing right now?

34. 5 stages of Twitter acceptance http://www.slideshare.net/minxuan/how-twitter-changed-my-life-presentation Conversing I don’t always post useful stuff, but I do use Twitter to have authentic 1x1 conversations. Microblogging I’m using Twitter to publish useful information that people read, and to converse 1x1 authentically. Dumping I’m on Twitter and use it for pasting links to my blog posts and pointing people to my press releases. Presence OK, I don’t really get why people love it, but I guess I should at least create an account. Denial I think Twitter sounds stupid. Why would anyone care what other people are doing right now?

35. Back to the biggest risk: “wrong” implementation Challenge of understanding changes in the environment where social may mean business • Organisational level • Lack of investment/partial investment/restricted access • Lack of investment in change management • Personal level • “Don’t know”/ “neutral”/caution • Consider your own forays into social computing • Work/social conversation • Accounts and identities • Microblogging issue today parallels e-mail 15-20 years ago?

36. … and parallels with the telephone Illustrated with this clip from Topsy Turvy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z9cpzz6Cp0

37. Implications for information and knowledge management professionals • Explore the value of social computing • Sell “right” message on value to the organisation • Play an active role in implementation planning • Choice of tools • Management of roll-out • Design of governance guidelines • Become mediators in social computing business environments • Explore microblogging

38. More Gilbert & Sullivan Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre explore Facebook: our final conference treat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7RrHXNyONc With thanks to Kev Sutherland

39. When social means business: the potential of social computing tools to support collaborative work as part of the organisational information infrastructure Dr Hazel Hall Reader in Social Informatics Centre for Social Informatics School of Computing Edinburgh Napier University