Collab-Or-Ate

Wordle was created by Jonathan Feinberg, another member of IBM Research’s Collaborative User Experience group.

Just randomly checked today and in less than 1 year Beehive has signed up more IBM users than Facebook, the largest social networking on the Internet! (39,300 vs. 39,236) We only have 64 more people, but I’m pretty confident we’ll keep the lead, given our adoption rate. (For some indication of adoption rates, in the last 2 hours, 30 people joined Beehive and 7 people joined Facebook’s IBM network.)

Nine out of ten search hits that land on my blog are related to the five posts I’ve made about my Blackberry Pearl. Ok, who am I kidding, it is ten out of ten. So to satisfy those visitors, I’ll give an update.

Give it up. Just buy the iPhone.

Today’s Wall Street Journal has an article that begins…

If you’re a BlackBerry user, you’re probably getting tired of hearing about all the things Apple’s iPhone can do.

“Yes! yes!” I thought. Finally, the Mossberg has a Solution! So I eagerly read the article titled “Ways to Unlock The Potential Of a BlackBerry” thinking that I would finally have a leg to stand on in front of all these gleeful, satisfied iPhone users.

Ug. So the article covers such things as:

“Pressing the Space bar works like Page Down on a computer keyboard, moving down one screen per press.”

I am pretty sure most Blackberry users have figured out how to use the keyboard. Ok, next cool iPhone-like trick:

“Shortcuts in BlackBerry messaging can be a real boon when you’re trying to get work done quickly. While looking at a list of emails, hit “C” to immediately start composing a new email.”

Sorry, that doesn’t cut it as something that will impress iPhone users. Next!

“To reboot your BlackBerry without removing its plastic back and taking out the battery, press ALT, Right Shift and Delete simultaneously.”

Ok, so you are saying the Blackberry is about as hip as the PC? Grrrrreat. I get it.

Have you heard of BizNik? It is YASNS, for business folks. Their homepage promotional banner declares that using their site you can “build relationships, promote your business and share your experience!” and these 3 basic actions resonate remarkable well with what we’re seeing on Beehive, inside of IBM.

We conducted a study of why people at IBM are using Beehive and our analysis reveals that workers differ from typical users of Internet social network sites, who have been shown to use SNSs primarily for keeping up with off-line friends (see boyd & Ellison, 2008). Within the walled garden of the enterprise, where there is a higher level of trust and an emphasis on work, IBM employees choose to reach out and meet new people rather than only connecting to those they know. They also share details of their life outside of work (”share your experience”) which has not been found with any frequency in other enterprise social software tools . And lastly, if motivated by career advancement goals or a desire to champion a project idea, they use the social network site strategically to connect (”build relationships”) and spread their message to a large audience (”promote your business”).

After three months of no updates and then some concentrated multimedia complaining (phone, email, web, fax), I’ve been informed by British Airways that “the check is in the mail.” I’m being reimbursed for my expenses during my 3 weeks of no luggage. (Except for the $80 phone charger I bought and then left in some hotel. bummer.) Time to plan my next trip (with carry-on)!

Luis Suarez, an IBM employee and one of our earliest and most enthusiastic Beehive users, has an article in the New York Times this week where he shares his amazing story: I freed myself from email’s grip. Luis has replaced his regular use of business email with phone calls, instant messaging, his wikis, his blog, and Beehive. There an interesting set of comments in response to his article on Lifehacker.

It is exciting that Luis sees our social network site Beehive as part of his set of critical business communication tools. Part of his reason for this is that Beehive is a public forum where he can answer things once, rather than many individual times.

My primary hypothesis as to why Luis and other employees are excited about checking their Beehive profile page and dread their email inboxes is that while the email inbox is one huge, enormous, always-growing to-do list, a social networking site is by definition social and there is a much lower level of obligation to reply or do anything in response to messages on the site. In many cases, there is no expectation to reply to that “friend request” or that friendly comment on your family photo. You are free to enjoy the environment and contribute content and comments when the mood strikes, and that is it. Who wouldn’t want to hang out there, as compared to within their piles of email?

If someone asks you something within Beehive that is 100% about work, it is similar to when a colleague asks you about the project while you are on your way to get coffee. You are available and willing to hear the question. You can defer the question or even ignore it, but in all likelihood your colleague is likely to get a response from you because you are in a context of being social, open and friendly.

So, can, should, or will social networking sites replace email? They can’t, shouldn’t, and won’t because they aren’t task-oriented inboxes. Employees crave an obligation-free communication environment, which is why they flock (buzz) to Beehive. And while they are there, sharing with each other, there many instances where the topics turn to business and real work gets done. But if social networking sites replace email, they wouldn’t be any fun any more!