Li, Charlene & Josh Bernoff.
Groundswell, expanded and revised edition: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
This book was first published in 2008, and both authors were analysts at Forrester Research. This gave them both the technical background, and the user stories, to bring to life the topic of businesses reacting to increasing customer involvement in social media. I like user stories!
I also particularly liked the steps that they suggest for evaluating new technologies:
- Does it enable people to connect in new ways?
- Is it effortless to sign up for?
- Does it shift power from institutions to people?
- Does the community generate enough content to sustain itself.
- Is it an open platform that invites partners?
This doesn't mean that the technology (or your involvement with it) is going to be a guaranteed success - but it definitely helps to reduce the risk of failure.
The book examines how businesses (and I would definitely include non-profits) need to connect with their customers via social media, because that's where the customers are. If organisations want to stay relevant (and profitable in the case of businesses), then they can't ignore the groundswell of involvement that is happening around us. People don't want to be passive consumers of products and services - if they are happy with something, they are willing to let others know. If they aren't happy, they REALLY WANT to let others know! Some of their examples of what not to do make this excruciatingly clear.
This book has some very useful planning tools including the POST framework. POST stands for People, Objectives, Strategy and Tools – and when considered in that order, the authors suggest they give you the most chance of a successful foray into social media. The focus should always be on people, not technologies. The authors advise tying any moves into social media into the objective/mission of the organisation as well as working out who is ultimately responsible. If the buy-in from above isn't there, try to get it or you will have constant roadblocks. They also recommend starting small - quick, simple, staged deployments, then reviewing reaction and responses. This links in beautifully to Week four's 10 steps for Planning.
The book also looks at different types of what it calls users or fans. It divides them into the following groups:
- creators,
- critics,
- conversationalists,
- collectors,
- joiners,
- spectators, and
- in-actives.
I found this helped me to clarify why responses can be so different - and also very interesting to see where I fitted on the spectrum. These different types of members will be most comfortable with different tools, so this should be examined when looking at the range and type of connections that we make. Also, it is worth putting in extra work to connect with the relatively small number of members in the first groupings because if they are engaged, they will often run with the idea and create content that will truly be participatory, rather than simply one way communication.
The issue of openness and honesty with those with whom we are interacting was also a key point. This links back to the discussions on transparency from Week five. Also, the fact that really knowing your community and their needs is key (which links beautifully to Weeks two and three.)
So, what does this all mean for libraries? My takeaway would be - Be quick on your feet and willing to change/adjust. Be open and honest with those with whom you are interacting. Listen more than talk. And be willing to be involved even if it means time, effort and moving out of your comfort zone.
