ust check it out, Bill… It’s fun. No, really, it isn’t addictive.

Check out Nancy White’s collection of “twitter collaboration stories” for more examples of potential value from Twitter. Some of them sound similar to the value of blogging and reaching out to one’s regular network. http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/Twitter+Collaboration+Stories Serrin wrote @ September 6th, 2007 at 2:08 am

Not at all addictive. I can quit twitterring any time. I quit 20 times today already.

Jack – Thanks for pointing out the great resource!

Bill – my main question is: will we see services similar to Twitter made available for enterprises? Or will the professional use of Twitter (which is very much proven by resources such as the collection previously mentioned) remain wholly at the individual level?

I fully agree that there doesn’t seem to be a strong case for an enterprise Twitter at the time being. However, at the very least, Twitter has raised our expectations for other services and given us an idea of what is possible. Berkay Mollamustafaoglu wrote @ September 6th, 2007 at 2:56 am

Hi Bill, What if you had privacy (can specify who can see which messages), and you could define rules on how to receive different messages? We’ve taken the twitter concept and looked at how it would make sense in the enterprise context in designing one of our products called RapidInformer.

I think an enterprise solution needs to work/integrate with existing solutions in the enterprise to make useful information available to users. In addition, it would typical enterprise requirements such as access control, etc.

In terms of interruption, twitter is better than IM since the messaging is asynchronous and an answer is not expected which allows you deal with them in your own schedule and not having to respond to each message.

It’s early days but I think enterprise tools like RapidInformer that learn and apply to enterprise will emerge. Bill Ives wrote @ September 6th, 2007 at 6:41 am

Jack, Serrin, and Berkay – Thanks for your rapid responses. I had hoped to get some feedback from my post. I guess I will have to try it. I thiunk the point that Berkay added, providing an asynchronous IM, captures the potential value in a clear way. I dislike the interuptions of IM, especially when I was speaking to someone on the phone or in person. But how is this different from text messaging or is it just text messaging with more options and power (e.g., send to multiple groups, ease of use). Bill Berkay Mollamustafaoglu wrote @ September 6th, 2007 at 7:49 am

by text messaging I assume you mean mobile phones..

one of the differences is that it supports multiple clients, IM, mobile, web page, etc. and you can dynamically shift your use. Why receive/type messages on a phone, if you’re in front of your computer.

If you’re busy, you can turn off notifications and only scan the messages from the web page, or you can only get notifications from couple of people/sources that are critical and rest take a look when/if you have time.

In short, especially an enterprise solution would provide powerful functionality to manage the message flow. Although it looks like twitter like systems increase the noise, they can actually make it better by empowering the individual to control which messages they should receive, when and how. Berkay Bill Ives wrote @ September 6th, 2007 at 8:11 am

Berkay

What you say makes sense. I wonder if the functionality will simply be incorporated into enterprise 2.0 platforms rathers than remaining in a standlone, single function application. Serrin wrote @ September 6th, 2007 at 11:42 pm

Twitter is not really a standalone application itself.

Berkay – I’m very excited to hear about your product! I’m just back from a very busy day at the Office 2.0 conference, so will take time tomorrow to do an in-depth review of your product – but I really like your approach. Luis Suarez wrote @ September 7th, 2007 at 8:01 am

Hi Bill! Really nice blog post! Thanks a bunch for sharing it with us and for showing some of the concerns on the potential business use of Twitter. I must say that I agree with Jack on his comments about trying it out. Believe me, it will change your perception about it. Many months ago I was on the same situation as you described above. I then decided to give it a try for a few weeks and as a result of that initial trial it has become now one of my essential tools to keep in touch with my different social networks.

So much so that some time ago I created the following blog post to reflect how it could well be used from a business perspective: “10 Reasons Why Twitter Will Help Improve Your Already Existing Social Networks“. As I said, you will have to try it to see the potential. Best part of it though is that there are a whole bunch of KMers and E2.0ers already on it and plenty of really good conversations going on the side. Hardly to be missed. Then perhaps you could convince me to make use of Facebook, and why you are on it, because so far I haven’t bought into it yet ;-)

Oh, one final comment, inside IBM we are already toying with the idea of a Twitter enterprise app. and although it is still in its infancy, it is getting more and more traction by the day. It is called BlueTwit and its value is just tremendously for such a large corporation.

PS. Here is my Twitter handle, in case you would want to connect ;-) Bill Ives wrote @ September 7th, 2007 at 11:54 am

Luis – Thanks for the links. It is great to see all these twitter defenders emerge. I will certainly look at your 10 reasons, as well as Blue Tart – following in the footsteps of Dogear. I understand the metaphor for Dogear and bookmarking – what is the reason for BlueTart? Luis Suarez wrote @ September 7th, 2007 at 12:34 pm

Hi Bill! Errr, did I say BlueTart? Nope, just re-read the comment above. It is called BlueTwit, which seems like a clone from Twitter with the blue flavour ;-) Nothing about “tarts” in here :-O heh Bill Ives wrote @ September 7th, 2007 at 3:18 pm

Luis – My mistake – I read the orange text too fast. This makes sense. Thanks, Bill John Tropea wrote @ September 9th, 2007 at 7:19 am

Hey Bill,

This post caught my eye, and I see Jack and Luis have dropped in, I posted about business uses for Twitter a little while ago.

http://libraryclips.blogsome.com/2007/05/21/twitter-for-business-and-presence-social-network/

I like that work colleagues that follow you could receive a quick announcement on the go, right from the palm of your hand.

I like that you can SMS a shoutout of your presence in a snap and your followers are informed, it’s very low cognitive publishing…no brainer, just a mini publish and everyone is in the know, you don’t have to send it to anyone, people who follow you will receive it.

Luis did a podcast on it with Tom Mandel on Maggie Fox’s show; http://www.smcpodcast.com/index.php?post_id=212680

NOTE: Nouncer.com looks like it’s a micro-blogging solution

The Swarm and Talk-Now look similar, but more of an indicator than publishing: http://libraryclips.blogsome.com/2007/05/08/roundup-feedsmith-feedest-flurry-updates-iotum-talk-now-twitbin-and-tweetbar/ Bill Ives wrote @ September 9th, 2007 at 5:42 pm

John I really liked your comparison of blogs and twitter which I will repeat here. “blogging is about announcing, communicating, sharing, productivity, there is lots about how this benefits the enterprise. Twitter is a micro-blogging network, so it’s a bit different has you can only share brief content, so it’s more about location, presence, status, updates…I see this as very useful especially for business travel or for people who are never at their desk, or I suppose for geographically spread teams.” This is a clear explanation for using Twitter in the enterprise. Jon Husband wrote @ September 10th, 2007 at 3:42 pm

I was going to comment that a fair number of early adopters have already written about the ways twitter or derivatives could be useful in enetrprise settings, but I see that this comment is now redundant ;-) Bill Ives wrote @ September 10th, 2007 at 6:21 pm

Jon – Thanks anyway. I have been collecting a few of these posts.

Trends to Watch: Twitter in the Enterprise by Jevon MacDonald

January 30, 2008 at 12:04 pm · Filed under Enterprise 2.0

This is become more and more of an obvious trend to look out for: A twitter clone in the Enterprise. Some early tools are now sprouting up to enable cheap low-risk deployments of the necessary tools.

As I work on a more detailed post on the topic, I thought I would jot down some quick notes as to why I think this is a positive trend, but also why it will have some pitfalls.

Positive Results

• Forces reduction of hierarchy enforcing rules o I say this because the more you constrain and layer access controls on “tweets” the less value they have overall, but more significantly, it directly reduces the benefit to the creator
• Personal Brand development – highly personal platform
• Crises discovery and management capability
• Increased awareness of ongoing work
• Interactions between individuals can strengthen their social-network ties to further inform other tools (like search, group forming, etc)
• Potential to outperform other tools in the rate of adoption (low barrier to start using the tool)

Potential Issues

• Immediate business value may not be apparent depending on the organization
• Low search value (individual entries to not usually contain full content on any specific topic)
• Must be device agnostic. Individuals who do almost all their email on a blackberry will need an appropriate version of an Enterprise twitter

I am just starting to form these thoughts. What do you think? Will Twitter be a disaster in the Enterprise, or will it be a hit?

Twitter Enters the Enterprise? by Bill Ives

September 5, 2007 at 7:23 pm · Filed under Enterprise 2.0

I have been hearing a lot about Twitter but (disclaimer) I have not tried it yet. The Wikipedia defines Twitter as a “a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send “updates” (text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) via SMS, instant messaging, email, to the Twitter website, or an application such as Twitterrific.” It goes on to add, “Updates are displayed on the user’s profile page and also instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. The sender can restrict delivery to those in his or her circle of friends (delivery to everyone is the default).” Twitter describes itself as a “A global community of friends and strangers answering one simple question: What are you doing?” I have nothing to hide but, I have to admit, I am also not always interested in having to take the time answer this question.

So how does this web 2.0 cross over into the enterprise? HiveTalk offers 7 enterprise uses for Twitter. I will cover their suggestions and my response.

You can use it for status updates from team members. But you team members have to sign up for twitter. Unless everyone is already a Twitter user for other reasons, I am not sure this justifies the introduction of a new tool.

You can also automate the updating of your IM status. See response to the first suggestion. I have to admit I am not am IM fan but when I was within a large enterprise and used it, it was no big deal to use the IM tool to do the updates. Disclaimer – I always said I was away after getting too many demanding interruptions, especially when I was on the phone.

Twitter can provide an informal timelog since you tell everyone what you are doing, you can access this yourself. So you have a timelog as a byproduct of telling everyone what you are doing. This could be useful but it would not be enough to use the tool, it is only a useful byproduct.

You can also use Twitter to assign tasks while you are away from your laptop or PDA or mobile phone or any of the other devices that already allow you to do this. Actually, you would use your mobile phone to send the Twitter message so I guess it works like a batch phone call here – that would be useful.

Twitter can be used to notify people of wiki updates. I though that was what RSS did.

Provide updates to multiple people when pressed for time. Now here is a good use. CircleUp would also do this up and it is also free. But Twitter will likely have more fellow users.

Twitter can also do batch processing of IM. It can operate between email and IM to send updates every 30 minutes, rather than instantly. They are speaking to the wrong person but this could be useful for the IM obsessed.

Now comes the shortcoming for business use. There is no privacy at the moment. So why would I expose my business conversations for the seemingly marginal benefits outlined above? I have to admit I am not a gadget guy. On the other hand, I do get excited about tools that can provide real business benefits such as the enterprise 2.0 tools I have been writing about here for the past two months.

I have heard that people in their 20s do not listen to voice mail and are very text messaging focused so this tool seems to build on that preference. I am very open to business uses of new tools but I feel that the suggestions above need to be stronger for anyone who does not simply like to play with new tools. I like openness and I am a big Facebook fan for this reason. I do appreciate what HiveTalk as done as it helps me better understand Twitter and might start thoughts on other uses.

Can you provide more enterprise uses or expand on the ones above?

Permalink

Twitter for business and presence social network Filed under: blogs, km, mobile

Just listened to a great podcast (as always) from Social Media Today with Maggie Fox on Twitter for business use.

I’ve posted about the different ways some people are using Twitter, which the group in this podcast also covered, but with more of an enterprise perspective.

HEADLINES

eg. breaking news, feeds, links

ANNOUNCEMENT

As a new media to get communications to people straight away using SMS eg. the recent High School killings in Virgina could of benefited with an SMS broadcast or swarm over email…same as a hurricane or any emergency that requires an immediacy of communication. Same goes with an emergency in the enterprise, after all the enterprise is a world of its own.

NETWORK

In the podcast it was mentioned that people dismiss the idea of Tweets about what your doing eg. “eating chocolate icecream, got it all over my face”.

But Luis states that this is a point of social connection, and especially relevant if your network are your family and close friends. Personally I love sharing and hearing about these moments in life…we don’t have to be engaged in a conversation, we are getting briefings as if we are always together.

And of course there are the benefits of locations updates, although there are many other mobile web or SMS services geared to this feature.

How many times have I wanted to ring my brother when something funny happens to share the moment, I rarely do, and ringing is synchronous, whereas I’d like to just share those briefings as they happen.

When I do get round to ringing him I have lots of stuff I want to share but can’t recall, plus if I do the fun of the moment as passed anyway. I could just SMS him as it happens, but what Twitter does is augment this into an SMS network, where whoever is plugged in is informed, post to one spot and it gets distibuted to people who want to know about you.

Check out musings on Twitter for an observational take on the ways or personas of Twitter.

Luis mentions that Twitter and blogging don’t clash, as their structure and form induce a different type of content and delivery. He mentions he looks at his Twitter feed before his blog feeds, because we can know what’s immediately happening. Blogging is more authored published pieces, where as micro-blogging is spontaneous and brief and is delivered to you intimately (phone in your pocket). Twitter also has the tendancy to be more personal than blogging (I suppose there a lots of blog diaries), and we try to get to know each other more with blogs with blog tag memes. So I think Twitter is just another unique piece in the web 2.0 pie that expresses who we are and assists us in our knowledge sharing and productivity…just like blogs,bookmarks, photo’s, videos, etc…

COMMUNAL

People at an event sharing a Twitter space; following this will help you netwok with people, find locations, basically know what’s going on according to attendees, you can be informed of happenings all over the place. Imagine a big music event, friends could be sharing a Twitter space or just use it as the ususal network and be notified of stuff that’s happening, no need to talk, that’s committment, we just want to tell everyone where it’s at with one SMS. NOTE: you could use a broadcast SMS, this is costly and is no different to email, we all know the richness of sharing content on a social network.

COMMENTATOR

Perfect for an event again, micro-blogging stuff as it happens, more intitmate than TV coverage at an awards ceremony.

GROUP

Similar to a communal Twitter space, and similar to your Twitter network, but more just a closed groups of members (your own little world), great for team communications, being connected on the road, etc…also see Loopnote, Jyngle, Swarm It and others.

BUSINESS USE

Apply the above scenarios to the enterprise; blogging is about announcing, communicating, sharing, productivity, there is lots about how this benefits the enterprise. Twitter is a micro-blogging network, so it’s a bit different has you can only share brief content, so it’s more about location, presence, status, updates… I see this as very useful especially for business travel or for people who are never at their desk, or I suppose for geographically spread teams.

The mobile nature makes it more pervasive and immediate, I can use it in a cramped train as long as I can reach in my pocket for my phone, whether by SMS, mobile email or mobile web…its power is in connectivity, really our phones have become an extension of ourselves.

PRESENCE

How many times do you want to know where someone is, or how many times do you want to inform others about your status, or the latest business communication. Post once, many can tap in makes this information so easy to reach.

Twitter presence relies on you publishing a post about your status/presence, and others can pull it to themselves, so all you are doing is posting, you are not actually pushing it, people subscribe for it to be pushed to them. Otherwise you can look at the mobile version to see the latest presence post of a work colleague.

But how can it be more like an IM presence, see Hictu which is an IM presence social network, which of late have also included micro-blogging.

Twitter presence is detailed as you are leaving a post, whereas a presence indicator can be a colour or a couple of words indicating your status…you are not posting but just clicking a setting. Others could be notified by SMS each time you change your indicator status, or just get on the mobile web as see your profile. Both The Swarm and Talk-now have this idea, even the idea of a calendar social network, as a calendar also may signify presence or status.

What I’d like to see for a presence social network is: - micro publishing and direct messages - location (plazes) - status indicator - contacts - calendar

Luis Suarez also has a post on Twitter for the enterprise, he has an inclusion of Q&A.

“In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”

“An artist is someone who produces things that people don’t need to have but that he, for some reason, thinks it would be a good idea to give them.”

“Being born is like being kidnapped. And then sold into slavery. “

“Don’t pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches.”

“During the 1960s, I think, people forgot what emotions were supposed to be. And I don’t think they’ve ever remembered.”

“Isn’t life just a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?”

“Dying is the most embarrassing thing that can ever happen to you, because someone’s got to take care of all your details.”

“Employees make the best dates. You don’t have to pick them up and they’re always tax-deductible.”

“I always wished I had died, and I still wish that, because I could have gotten the whole thing over with.”

“I am a deeply superficial person.”

“I have Social Disease. I have to go out every night. If I stay home one night I start spreading rumors to my dogs.”

“I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They’re beautiful. Everybody’s plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.”

“I never think that people die. They just go to department stores.”

“I never read. I just look at pictures.”

“I never understood why when you died, you didn’t just vanish, everything could just keep going on the way it was only you just wouldn’t be there. I always thought I’d like my own tombstone to be blank. No epitaph, and no name. Well, actually, I’d like it to say ‘figment’.”

“I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own.

“I’d asked around 10 or 15 people for suggestions. Finally one lady friend asked the right question, “Well, what do you love most?” That’s how I started painting money.”

“I’ll endorse with my name any of the following; clothing AC-DC, cigarettes, small tapes, sound equipment, ROCK N’ ROLL RECORDS, anything, film, and film equipment, Food, Helium, Whips, MONEY!!”

“I’m afraid that if you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning.”

“I’m the type who’d be happy not going anywhere as long as I was sure I knew exactly what was happening at the places I wasn’t going to. I’m the type who’d like to sit home and watch every party that I’m invited to on a monitor in my bedroom.”

“I’ve decided something: Commercial things really do stink. As soon as it becomes commercial for a mass market it really stinks.”

“If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There’s nothing behind it.”

“It’s the movies that have really been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about it.”

“Land really is the best art.”

“Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.”

“My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person.”

“People are only glamorous if you don’t see them. Like the movies used to make people years ago. There is something about people on screen that makes them so special; when you see them in person, they are so different and the whole illusion is gone.”

“The most exciting attractions are between two opposites that never meet.”

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”

“When I got my first television set, I stopped caring so much about having close relationships.”

“Whats great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.”