Daily updates on what I’m reading

• Best Connected Individuals Are Not the Most Influential Spreaders in Social Networks – CLIPS: "…. the importance of hubs may have been overstated, say Kitsak and pals. "In contrast to common belief, the most influential spreaders in a social network do not correspond to the best connected people or to the most central people," they say.

  At first glance this seems somewhat counter intuitive but on reflection it makes perfect sense. Kitsak and co point out that there are various scenarios in which well connected hubs have little influence over the spread of information. "For example, if a hub exists at the end of a branch at the periphery of a network, it will have a minimal impact in the spreading process through the core of the network."

  By contrast, "a less connected person who is strategically placed in the core of the network will have a significant effect that leads to dissemination through a large fraction of the population." The question then is how to find these influential individuals."

Daily updates on what I’m reading

• Calling non-USA based women activists – CLIP: "Today I'm proud to announce the BlogHer 2010 International Activist Scholarship Program. Here's how it works: If you or someone you know is a woman blogger, outside the United States, blogging to raise awareness, consciousness or funding to change their community, region, country or the world, then please nominate yourself or such a blogger to win one of these four scholarships.

  Scholarship Winners Will Receive:

  * A full 2-day conference pass to BlogHer '10
  * Round trip airfare to and from New York, NY for the BlogHer '10 annual conference
  * 2 nights stay at the New York Hilton during the conference
  * The opportunity to present their work during a prominently-scheduled session at BlogHer '10

  The Criteria:

  If you review the nomination form, you'll see that we're asking you to describe not only the mission of the blog/blogger and how they are effecting change, but also how they could benefit from their BlogHer experience."

Final hiccups solved!  Ever since I upgraded to Snow Leopard, I’ve been struggling to get my netconnect broadband modem to work as well as it previously did.  I’ve blogged about my initial hiccups, where I thought I’d found a great solution.  Well it worked, but my speeds have been abysmal.  Called Reliance service guys – they couldn’t find a fix – and asked me to locate a driver at the Apple India – and there was none of course. It’s been a few months now – small mercies that this is just my travel mate, and not my main connection.

I finally figured it out. With help from someone called Guru who suggested:

So I inserted the modem, opened the folder in finder, right-clicked on the blue Reliance Netconnect icon, got into Package Contents, clicked Resources and there it was.

Installed it. Found the Reliance Netconnect icon in my Applications folder, opened it and sure enough, found my setting was set by default to the lowly High Speed Internet and not Broadband.  Changed that to Broadband + and voila – problem solved

Here’s the fix again:

Do not try to install the mobile connect application. Insert Modem, right click icon in Finder, click Show Package Contents, go to Resources and then install the file mobile_connect_drv_app.pkg.

Thank you, Guru – whoever you are!

Daily updates on what I’m reading

• A New Mobile Radar concept from Nokia Research Centre | via @tsuvik – Make sure you check out the video too! CLIP: "Nokia Research Center (NRC) Helsinki today unveiled a new research concept at “Demo House 2010″ research exhibition in Espoo, Finland. The mobile radar demonstration shows how a mobile device can use an active radar sensor to measure speed, its distance and the direction of movement of approaching objects, similiar to the traditional RADAR. It uses electromagnetic waves to provide a different type of mobile wireless sensing."

  This research concept could enable new ways for users to interact with their device, for example via gesture control. It also opens the door for the creation of radar based applications which could be used in sport, for entertainment or personal safety.

• The Elevator Pitch for Enterprise 2.0 – ReadWriteEnterprise – Enterprise 2.0 Elevator Pitches to different levels in a company – CEO, Head of HR, CIO, Middle Managers, Experts. Original post here – http://www.techiteasy.org/2010/01/25/five-elevator-pitches-for-enterprise-2-0-adoption/ – CLIP: "We have not been writing too much as of late about Enterprise 2.0. Perhaps that's in part because it seems like the phrase is getting a bit tired.Perhaps also it is because it feels like so much of the discussion centers around the technology that Enterprise 2.0 is all about. In any case, we found this post on Tech IT Easy. It goes through five elevator pitches to make for Enterprise 2.0. It's a telling post. While it seems like Enterprise 2.0 is becoming widely adopted, there is still a struggle for how to explain what it means and how to pitch the concept to executive management, middle managers and the people who may find the technology valuable for their work".

Daily updates on what I’m reading

• Mattel takes innovation to the dogs with its Puppy Tweets – CLIP: "Puppy Tweets is a plastic tag with a sound and motion sensor that you attach to your pet's dog collar and connect its USB receiver to your computer. Then you create a Twitter account for your dog and enjoy updates all day from Sparky or whatever its name is on your computer or smartphone.

  The tag is set with several pre-recorded tweets that are triggered by the dog's activities. So if he's running around, you might get a tweet that says "I finally caught that tail I've been chasing and…OOUUUCHH!"

Daily updates on what I’m reading

• Smartphones Market – CLIP: "For more from Tomi this is a 30min video that makes the case for the next 4billion users and more importantly reinforces the opportunity just around the corner. Some great examples and sound bites. Yes the mobile is the future. This also seems to reflect Nokia’s analysis re banking, SMS, MMS etc. Good numbers and worth sharing as part of the background to his share / competitive analysis.

  Comments:

  * The ChinaPhone will continue to grow across markets. These phones are likely to steal share – particularly from Nokia in India. They are becoming branded. Dual-Sim also plays a role.
  * GPS initiatives like latest OviMaps may help Nokia in some markets. Although until it enables social connections in new ways it alone won’t be a compelling reason to buy Nokia vs say Samsung or switch back.
  * Samsung is appropriately identified as going for world domination. I like their latest touch screen phones.They appear to be two years ahead of Nokia roughly in product cycle."

Daily updates on what I’m reading

• Demographic Dividend Theory – A parable of India’s Growth – CLIP: To this effect, a recent report published by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has estimated that India would face ‘talent gap’ of more than 5 million by 2012, as existing educational institutions do not impart employable skills. The report titled, ‘India’s Demographic Dilemma’, brings out the fact that $1.1-trillion economy will have a shortfall of 7, 50,000 skilled workers over the next five years. In contrast, during the same period there will be a surplus of 1.3 million unskilled and unqualified school dropouts and illiterates.

  If you consider the above data to be reliable, then one must understand that talent gaps if widened in the process could only lead to choking economic development and become counterproductive. The proposed Public Private Partnership model (PPP) to reform the culpable education sector is considered as a planned approach with budgetary support of over Rs. 35,000 crore.

Daily updates on what I’m reading

• Go thataway: Google Maps India learns to navigate like a local – Much better Googlemaps!! CLIPS: We found that using landmarks in directions helps for two simple reasons: they are easier to see than street signs and they are easier to remember than street names. Spotting a pink building on a corner or remembering to turn after a gas station is much easier than trying to recall an unfamiliar street name. Sometimes there are simply too many signs to look at, and the street sign drowns in the visual noise. A good landmark always stands out.

• Global Voices Online » A Global Look at Anti-Corruption Day | cool initiative. Reminded me of Shaffi Mather's TEDTalk
  This reminded me of Shaffi Mather's TEDTalk on a new way to fight corruption – a for-profit BPO kinda service to battle corruption, one bribe at a time! Here's the link – http://www.ted.com/talks/shaffi_mather_a_new_way_to_fight_corruption.html. CLIP from Global Voices post: "On January 18 Global Voices will launch the Technology for Transparency Network, a collaborative research mapping of internet projects that promote greater transparency, government accountability, and civic engagement. This is the first in a series of posts that will explore related issues through the eyes of bloggers worldwide."
  (tags: technology transparency globalvoicesonline shaffimather)

Not new, but a good reminder through a neat collation of tips on how to deal with a digital business crisis. It is meant for marketers and social media agencies operating in the Enterprise 2.0 space, either for marketing their brands, services or for managing corporate reputation.

Introduction to the Presentation: This is a practical guide for using social media for crisis management. We developed this at Ogilvy within the 360 Digital Influence and Public Afairs teams. It offers 5 trends, a framework to follow and 5 keys to managing a crisis. This was delivered as a live session across Asia in partnership with the Wall Street Journal and support from GoToWebinar

• The Children of Cyberspace A New World | this is vintage @robpatrob !
  CLIP: "I got my first computer in 1981 a Mac11 – at 31, I was early. My son got his first computer when he was 9. He was early. My grand daughter aged 14 months routinely is on Skype.

  She is part of the first generation that will know the connected world of the web from birth.

  Like an immigrant to a new world, she will truly be a citizen of the web."

  (tags: computing robpaterson future connectedworld)

I was chatting with a friend today who’s not a Twitter user, and trying to explain why I like it, and why so many people do too. I found myself turning to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and his Theory of Human Motivations to try and explain this. I discovered this blog post titled The Hierarchy of Tweets at the Innovation Diaries, with this clever diagram based on Maslow’s model. The author makes an interesting connection between what motivates people and how these needs are expressed in 140 characters:

Click to Enlarge

I also discovered this neat little blog post by students of new media at the University of Amsterdam, where the question discussed is whether Twitter is in fact a tool that nourishes our social needs or is it in fact, increasing our needs to keep track of our friends every minute of the day? Here’s a clip:

Humans are social beings with social needs. We need each other to grow as well. Rom Harré describes in his book ‘Social Being’ that we exist as persons for ourselves and other people. We exist solely by the virtue of networks of relations in which we stand to other human beings of our kind. We are partially created by other people and our actions and interactions are jointed actions [3]. Twitter in this case would be a platform on which network of relations are enhanced. Networks are created and the followers you have and you follow are people you have shared interest with; they are ‘humans beings of our kind.’ Aristotle on the other hand speaks of how achieving the good life. We all have social needs and to have a good, successful and happy life we need to socialize with others. And because humans are by nature social beings it is good to live in a society in which the social life is mostly based on a community. Social life in a community is a necessity for a human’s complete flourishing as a human being. Another aspect that Aristotle addresses is friendship. This mutual admiration between two human beings is a necessity. This moral admiration for one and another is essential in friendships and taking advantage of these friendships can make a person fully human. [4]. The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs also addresses this fact. After physical and safety needs we all have our social needs. According to Maslow these social needs involve emotionally based relationships such as friendship and intimacy.

And how can one forget this piece – Understanding the Psychology of Twitter – at Moses Ma’s The Tao of Innovation Blog, written in March 2009.

All this research took me back to 2007, when I had talked about Social Media Strategies – Let’s Remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. I had then said:

Click to Enlarge - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Web 2.0 companies have shown the way – their products are in perpetual beta, their architecture and marketing is decentralized, they encourage communities of users to self-organize around them. Recently, in an email to Rob, I wrote …. I think one of the most difficult things for people to do is give up control and relinquish ‘power’ to the many unless they see tangible ‘cost-per-click’ sort of gains. It’s the single largest barrier to accepting and adopting a process that is different to one we have been so conditioned to. Sadly, what few realise the act of giving up that power itself can be so empowering for them – why is Wordpress gaining popularity – why is Flickr so popular – why are del.icio.us and Skype and so many others gaining traction today? They weren’t built in a day and pushed onto us as a final product or service – they are being built by and around the community that breathes them. The folks behind them had the guts and vision to say – let’s see how our customers ‘play’ – how they self-organize into networks (developers for instance) – embrace the criticisms with the accolades – and build around what they build. Chaos ….. and creativity. So powerful.

and

I’m not one of those academics who is framework-crazy or model-crazy, still it is good to pause sometimes, and reflect on their relevance and application, especially those that deepen our understanding of basic human motivations , which directly affect how we work, play and even ‘consume’. Triggered by the link I discovered today, I’m amazed at how relevant some of these models are, in our understanding and appreciation of the work we are doing in the social media strategy space. So much of our own social media usage that goes to form what Ton refers to as our distributed self, is driven by these needs – del.icio.us, furl, facebook, blogging, flickr, youtube, twitter, plazes, skype, last.fm – the list is never-ending! As I think about each, I see each one fulfilling a different need, and yet coming together to form a lifestream that is driven by the ‘gestalt’, often sub-conscious, of my own needs.

Moreover, the ability for brands and organisations to be in beta, and to listen and engage in Social Media – those that can take that leap, will be fulfilling some of the higher-order needs in the classic pyramid model, and in Jennifer’s circle, forming and providing ecosytems to their customers that enable the fulfillment of these needs. Ultimately, good marketing and PR is always one that delivers on meeting customer needs.

Something marketers, consultants, techies and geeks, and PR folks who are working in the area of Blogger Relations, Social Media and Web 2.0 should well keep in mind when they design their projects, processes, products or services and strategies!

• Social Media in India: 7 Findings from 2009, 7 Wishes for 2010 | S.M.A.R.T objectives @sm63
  CLIPS: "# We are very pleased to see a big shift from our agency friends. I mean, the advertising, PR and media buying agency partners. We have seen hesitation, threat, doubt and fear in the early days, but we are now seeing an increasing confidence in the Social Media space, from many. They have become open to new ideas, and to some extent, they are putting these up to clients, and many are getting through as well. This is going to be the most exciting part of 2010, I believe.
  # We are also happy to see companies looking at Social Media Monitoring as a part of the Social Media activities. Although still a pariah amongst all of the Social Media methods (in India), a few companies have started seeing the potential of “listening” and we are seeing this number go up. Businesses which are more sensitive to customer feedback, are especially concerned about managing their online reputations, and monitoring becomes an integral component here."
  (tags: socialmedia india socialmediamarketing socialmediameasurement)

An article titled Social Networking plagues India Inc which is based on a survey conducted by Assocham just goes to show that they’re really sleeping or threatened, while their world’s moving forward!

A recent national survey conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India’s (Assocham) Social Development Foundation revealed that 84% of Indian employees who have access to the world wide web are showing symptoms of internet addiction. They spend more than the “normal’’ amount of time online, and show signs of irritability when they are interrupted from surfing, concludes the study.

With 93% of youngsters saying they were aware of social networking sites, and most averaging an hour a day on MySpace, LinkedIn, Orkut, et al, employers are looking at a productivity loss of nearly 12.5% every day. “The growing use of browsing sites can be dangerous for overall productivity. IT companies have already installed software to restrict use,” said Assocham secretary general D S Rawat said”.

And this, from a psychiatrist and HRD trainer:

“On the other hand, being constantly logged online and indulging in ‘faceless’ communication is detrimental to one’s health,’’ he said. Dr Rajendra Barve, psychiatrist and HRD trainer concurred “This mindset is making people a slave to machines,’’ he said.

India Inc, and Dr. Barve, you must be kidding!!  Build firewalls, and people will find ways across them. Kill their access on their computers, and they will turn to their mobile phones as your study has shown.  How will you block that? They will never stop, because the internet is a way of life, with its own ecology, culture and social behaviours that more often than not, enhance our world. It is a part of my world, and yours, and theirs. It is not a fad that will pass and it’s definitely not about “faceless communication”, nor is it a drug you get addicted to.

You must learn how to embrace it, and use the flows to your advantage in this emerging knowledge economy. Here’s a start. [picture credit: Gaping Void].

Update: Bonus Link – Can an organization not be ready for Enterprise 2.0? [via @dhinchcliffe]