social media and technology challenges some lessons and approaches from personal experience

a good enough definition : Any communications format where the users publish the content - wikipedia

social media is one of the defining characteristics of web 2.0 behaviour

component parts original content, meta-content distribution, reading context

original content blogs, comments, video, photos wordpress | zoopy | flickr | youtube

meta-content aggregators, social news, analytics amatomu | afrigator | muti | digg | del.icio.us

technology generally built on open-source software Web Server - Apache Application - PHP / Python / Ruby on Rails Database - MySQL / PostgreSQL

data challenges large volumes of loosely structured data, folksonomies, very transactional and real-time

application challenges complex logic, useability, privacy

other challenges editorial and legal, quality, abuse, spam

some ways to approach all of these challenges things I learnt while paying my dues

be multi-disciplinary you cannot approach these problems successfully from the extreme perspectives of either corporate IT or marketing - this is a social space and is necessarily complex and fluid 1

pay heed to Merton unintended consequences are caused by ignorance, error, immediate interest, prohibitive values and self-fulfilling prophecies 2

get proper information there is a lot of hype about Web 2 and its potential for businesses - there is also a lot of hype. If you have any doubts, do proper research first. 3

harmony with culture the successful social media services are those that get incorporated into people’s daily lives, so your product must resonate within their culture 4

lived environment harsh or one-dimensional environments do not sustain life. A careful proportion of the world must be hackable and support personal appropriation - without obscuring the common sense uses 5

avoid streisand the streisand effect is when, trying to hide something, you draw more attention to it. Honesty is the best policy when communicating with users 6

work iteratively everything is going to have to change when the users move in, so start basic and learn while you grow 7

be aware of power all social applications are effused with power. Heirarchies and elites form spontaneously and they can damage your product. Understand that power is fluid and can be displaced and redistributed lightly and subtly. 8

we already have the wheel use open-source software or buy products if your requirements allow it, spend your time making them unique rather than getting to the starting line. 9

let go of ownership make content re-use easy, build APIs where possible/logical and remember that people get claustrophobic when you lock them in 10

that’s right - people suddenly, and sometimes unpleasantly, you have to accept that your users will have a personal interest in what you do

support is no longer the gulag, you will need to be able to understand your users and communicate with them as decision-makers dependent on their good-will

staffing is important a few good people who put their heart and soul into it. If they don’t have hearts or souls, put them in you billing dept

thank you and questions