Posts RSSFacebookgate, #2013 & the real story: Collaboration!
Well, hasn’t this just been one of the most fascinating 24 hours of 2009. It starts with a visit in October from Chair of the International Association of Business Communicators Chair Barbara Gibson or @Barb_G in Twitterville.You *must* twitter she cries. We *must* twitter I tell you.
So some-what reluctantly I tweet , think first stage of @rohitbhargava ’s 5 Stages of Twitter Acceptance. I absorb, I immerse, and let me tell you right know I can think of as many reasons why not to be on Twitter as there are why you should be, but that will be my 100 days of Twitter post ; ) . But I connect. With some very interesting, generous and knowleadgeable folk.
So 24 hours or so ago one of those clever folk I follow @bradjward’s produces a couple of “Tweazes”… or a tease by twitter. ”The story just keeps getting BIGGER AND BIGGER”. And indeed it did. Basically, over 300 Facebook groups targetting graduates of 2013 have been set up by representatives of one company, posing as students. The ins and outs and implications are really well explored at Brad’s blog
But the real story (for me) is the investigative journalism and collaborative engagement by the tweeting / blogging community. Brad set up a collaborative spreadsheet via Google Docs and a very diligent 12-14 folk worked through the US night sourcing, cross checking, doublechecking links within Facebook and the company that set the “initiative” up. Virtual collaboration, real time conversations, leads and red herrings worked through. I tell ya, there is a movie in this one. Thankfully, the chat text has been preserved, it will make a great screenplay. Well the nerd in me thinks so.
I think the implications for organisations are profound. What would it take to have your employees seeking to protect your company reputation and protect your customers and other employees in this way? Real time information, respectful dialogue, clarifying, communicating, creating…real change. Not sure I have the answers (yet), but I am very excited about what it could mean…
December 20th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
You’re spot on: the collaborative nature of this investigation was key. Brad’s a very collaborative guy. He’s the co-founder of http://bloghighed.org, which was in itself a collaborative effort to aggregate higher ed blogs into a single site.
BTW, you transposed teh numbers in your hashtag.
December 20th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Thanks Andrew! Have fixed, clearly was all a-twitter! Yes - quite impressed with bloghighed.org, I’m thinking “aggregation” is going to be critical to adding value with web2.0 / 3.0 in 2009, particularly as more mainstream / newbies come on board. And I mean that in the innovation-adoption curve sense, not a dismissive sense!