Micro-blogging: Friend or Foe For Unified Communications

One my last reports recently was published by Gartner  on the topic of enterprise micro-blogging. The document ("From Twitter To Enterprise Micro-Blogging" Note: requires Burton client access), takes a very broad look at how micro-blogging will reshape communication patterns. My premise (which I've publically discussed previously in this blog, sometimes under the term "social messaging") is that micro-blogging's broadcast model, coupled with its "follow", hashtag and other filtering/categorizing capability creates a "sense of space" within the stream.

While somewhat different than collaborative workspaces (which are persistant and often document centric), the notion that we can/should communicate in spaces versus channels (ala e-mail and instant messaging) is an intriguing trend and worth exploring. Historically, the industry has long lamented the use of communication channels for collaboration. e-Mail is very popular but it leaves a lot to be desired as a collaboration vehicle - the same goes for IM - it can work, but is not as effective as a workspace in many instances.  Instead, the more effective approach was to collaborate in workspaces. While workspaces are typically thought of as an asynchronous environment, they can also include real-time sharing "workspaces" as found in web conferencing systems.

Micro-blogging is a mindset change for those leveraging it for enterprise communication. Channel-centric tools, such as e-mail and instant message, are more direct - you are the sender and you push it to an identified recipient (person, distribution list). Micro-blogging alters this model via a broadcast stream pattern of posts that are public (in general). If your posts are interesting (for a variety of reasons), people subscribe to ("follow) you and your post stream. As participants in micro-blogging environments "follow" each other often resulting in follower/following connections that begin to overlap (evolving into social networks and possible communities). As people interact, they begin to direct posts (e.g., @<name>) to each other. In a way, the behavior duplicates the sender/receiver need that still exists from the channel model, but now situated within a stream context. The result, depending on the client tool used, is a user experience that begins to resemble instant messaging and group chat. Other capabilities within micro-blogging tools (e.g., hash-tags), also help enables a "sense of space" - albeit one where a stream runs thought it - posts eventually flow out of view rather than pile up in an inbox.

I find this cognitive dynamic of space within group communications interesting.  As I observe people's behavior within the various micro-blogging environments I've participated in, it seems that there are some interesting implications for how we think about unified communications in a more expansive way. From time to time, I'll find myself in a conversation as to whether micro-blogging is a threat to investments made in instant messaging, or something that can be additive. I don't see it as a threat at all - if anything, micro-blogging augments investments made in unified communications. However, we need to alter the way we design, architect, and deliver such capabilities.

For instance within micro-blogging environments

• It would be nice to have presense added to either individual posts or to the profile
• You can also imagine client-to-IM, client-to-conference, and click-to-call available from a post or profile entry
• Micro-blogging can also expand our notion of what presense is all about, that is, rather than a simple color indicator and awareness of someone's availability (for a call, for a F2F), UC presence plus micro-blogging posts gives rise to the concept of "social presence". Activity streams deliver better context over time regarding someone's "presense" than what we have today.

From within a UC platform

• Hashtags could be generated to create back-channels for real-time video or web conferencing sessions, online classes, web events
• When you select to add someone to your IM buddy list, you could choose to also "follow" their micro-blogging posts
• In fact, the concept of a buddy list being private could be expanded so that buddies were optionally public
• Status updates between IM and micro-blogging could be synchronized so that an IM status update might automatically show up as a public post. Conversely, micro-blogging posts could be shared as an IM status update.

These are just some off-the-cuff thoughts, appreciate your feedback - and by the way, nothing here is representative of any Cisco direction. That goes for all posts on my personal blog. I will be working with the social media team to get established on the Cisco site soon. These perspectives are what I see happening in the market.

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Comments

[George Goodall]

Welcome back. I'm glad I left Collaborative Thinking in my reader.

[John Tropea]

Great clarity.

Some similar posts I like are:

http://www.stoweboyd.com/message/the-business-case-for-streams-versus-email.html

http://thelynchblog.com/2009/12/14/deciding-when-to-use-microblogging-e-mail-or-im/

And when in the past could a worker sense-make like this
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0710/index.php?startid=30#/40

Anyway...I think the use of microblogging and hashtags can be game changing for task work especially the bit when task members need to investigate with non-task people and then report back an update. Basically with microblogging there is no need to report back to base. I like that hashtags are not a prescriptive group space that has to be set up prior to working, instead it's more like email where you simply start communicating, but unlike email hashtags can form a bucket/space on-the-fly

http://libraryclips.blogsome.com/2010/07/19/enterprise-microblogging-you-no-longer-have-to-report-back-to-base

[Operations Analyst Job Description]

Great ideas on micro blogging. Helped me a lot..thanks for sharing this with me!

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