Ann Holman's Blog - Latest Comments

Re: Klout measures connection not depth of influence….

Wessel van Rensburg — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:20:49 -0000

Hi Ann been wanting to leave a comment. I agree with you that services like Klout don't quite measure what they say they do. But in my last post I will try to show their value. The second post in this series is up by the way.

Re: I am changing how I use social media … slightly!

Ann — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:03:42 -0000

Absolutely Karin. That's the whole thought behind the blog post....action! :)

Re: I am changing how I use social media … slightly!

Karin Jordan — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 05:28:09 -0000

Great to see your strategy Ann, it's a reminder to all to ensure that time spent is actually creating positive progress for your business. So many people spend a disprportionate amount of time simply 'hanging out' in social media spaces. I love social media, the opportunities to connect, learn and progress; however, i f we don't regularly review how we are spending time on it then it's in danger of being the equivalent of spending all your time on the sofa in your socks and pjs talking to like minded people about what you are going to do, rather than balancing it with some time on direct action.

Re: Why education needs upending!

Ann — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:35:19 -0000

Absolutely agree. Though the current education system works for some people which is fine, it doesn't for many others who have been ignored for too long. One size does not fit all!!

Re: Why education needs upending!

SocialTechno — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:55:07 -0000

Thanks Ann. I'm aware that I didn't directly answer your main point. I agree that education is important, but when I think of the people I've met who decided to take life by the scruff of the neck and make a distinct contribution, the ones who had unhappy experiences at school outnumber the happily educated by about 4 to 1. John Lennon, Alan Sugar and Stephen Fry are worth more in my eyes than Alain de Botton or Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Re: Why education needs upending!

Ann — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:31:24 -0000

Hi Gordon, you make many interesting points. You are right, career ladders have changed and some have become invisible, in fact they just don't exist. We've seen this shift as an opportunity, its one of the motivations behind us setting up our new company thinklab as a franchise business.

I love your comment about 'angry posh people' and you are right that education isn't the only thing that needs a 'reboot,' it includes the economy, health, our social fabric and the way we view innovation. My concern is that we have had a couple of generations of lots of educated, intelligent people staring mundaneness in the face. And like you, I feel there is a dormant volcano waiting to erupt!

Re: Why education needs upending!

SocialTechno — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:06:05 -0000

Somebody told me that in the near future, a factory will only have two employees, a man, and a dog. The man's job will be to feed the dog. The dog's job will be to stop the man touching the controls.

Very droll. But what's more interesting is the impact technology is having on the services industries (because it's where I've spent my working life) The predictions economists like Danny Quah and Diane Coyle were making ten years ago about 'twin peaks' income distributions have come to pass. The old organisational pyramid is now shaped like a sombrero. There's a big brim, because of all the customer facing staff who can't be replaced by machines. Then there's a flat bit, where the maddle management has been hollowed out and replaced by information systems, and a peak in the centre, which is the core of the firm.

There's a problem with this kind of organisation structure: a big one. There's no career path like there used to be for young, talented men and women to 'rise through the ranks'. We see casual labour at the edge of the sombrero, and a few permanent staff in the middle. That's why more organisations like Wetherspoons or Starbucks are becoming franchise operations. It's not really entreprenurs they want. They want loyal hard-working empoyees, but they can't offer them a promotion ladder to climb, so they offer them a chance to be their own boss, with someone else's name over the door.

I've read a lot of things you've written about social business abd enterprise 2.0, and I was really pleased that Andy McAfee decided to collaborate with Erik Btynjolfsson on their book 'Race Against The Machine'. Because social business gives us a microsocial picture of where the jobs are going to be, and what skills people will need, but the macro-social picture is that all western countries are facing middle class unemployment. Thatcher and her gang had a hard time dealing with the demise of the industrial working class , but can you imagine what's it going like when there lots of angry posh people on the scrapheap who have good educations and know how to run things?

I think there is hopem but rebooting the education system isn't the (only) place to look. I think we need to look at newer, better ways of bridging the gap between casual labour that's short term and supposedly unskilled, (but actually requires good social capital) and long-term, skilled jobs that deliver high value-added. The Work Foundation has done some very promising research on what can be done to rebalance supply and demand for skills in the workplace , and I hope that the government and employers take it on board. The middle classes won't want to wait tables for their entire lives.

Re: Why education needs upending!

Ann — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:20:07 -0000

Thanks for commenting Marcus. Its a huge issue that needs resolving, if I'm not thinking too utopian! I always think that in addition to death and taxes, there is nothing surer in a humans life than technology will eventually do the job your doing now. If they were still alive, ask farm workers who cut wheat by hand what mechanisation did to them. Technology has been creeping up on us for hundreds of years, the difference now is that its a whole load faster and the ability of our culture to react to it is far too slow.

But then many people will protect a way of doing stuff if it rewards them personally, even if its wrong!

Re: Why education needs upending!

Marcus Hickman — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:10:03 -0000

Important thoughts Ann! If i had time i'd love to experience/understand more of the northern european approach to education and learning, its often wistfully referenced.

Re: Are free social networks a good business model?

Ann — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:04:15 -0000

Thanks Daniel, thats very kind of you to say so. Just trying to bring some reality to what seems like chaos sometimes!

Re: Are free social networks a good business model?

Daniel Milstein — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:24:46 -0000

Good Share.I hope more people discover your blog because you really know what you're talking about. Can't wait to read more from you!

Re: What’s in Store For 2012

Ann — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:52:42 -0000

Thanks Brian! Hope all good with you!!

Re: What’s in Store For 2012

Brian O'Donnell — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:15:30 -0000

Ann, sounds fantastic. Congratulations on making such progress this year, looking forward to seeing more exciting developments in 2012.

Brian

Re: Facebook Has Become An Ad Network

Ann — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 06:53:26 -0000

Yep and then the Brands will wonder what the hell they are doing spending money on the ad's. Or perhaps not! :)

Re: Facebook Has Become An Ad Network

NathanielDavis — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 05:19:22 -0000

Yes - what is "social" its as much a philosophical point if not a financial one. If only people (my generation x - thought about this so much!). I doubt they do - they ignore the broadcasts!

Re: It Is The Density Of Social Media That Matters…..

Ann — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 07:23:00 -0000

Thanks for the comment. What is so great about the social web is the fact we can offer opinion in a public environment. Its the first time I've ever been cited as being contradictory which is interesting in itself and has obviously given cause for reflection. I'm interested in specifically where you feel the dissension and inconsistency is, as that helps us get better at what we do?

Re: It Is The Density Of Social Media That Matters…..

Startled — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 06:55:56 -0000

I have read some anal garbage in my time but this beats it all.

If the prime objective of social architecture is to communicate and be understood by others, well Ann, you need to have some training yourself. This site looks like regurgitated naval gazing and disjointed contradictions.

Re: It Is The Density Of Social Media That Matters…..

Ann — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:13:43 -0000

Here here Julian. Social is being pillaged by the marketers but we only have ourselves to blame, its how we trained them....short term gain, get as much out of someone then move on! I'm bored of the lack of imagination in selling products rather than building relationships.

Got another post coming up about how brands are walking into a dark alley with regard to their presence on Facebook. We need to stop pinching other peoples space and start building our own place around our brand!

Thanks for taking the time to comment Julian!

Re: It Is The Density Of Social Media That Matters…..

Julian Summerhayes — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:55:02 -0000

Ann

I am fed up with all the Free offers and pop ups that I bump into with increasing alacrity. The formula is s-o--o---o----o tired. If you go to the website for Tom Peters (www.tompeters.com) you will find a treasure trove of valuable material based on a lifetime's experience of working with some of the best companies on the planet. I don't see Tom going boom! get your programme here which will transform your company or your lives forever. He has desevedly won the respect of his followers based on solid research, hard work and being passionately committed to the EXCELLENCE cause. That's his thing (as Chris Penn would say). There is not enough thoughtfulness in the market-ing. It is all about the SHORT TERM "How the hell can I leverage the heck out of this group of people." For me, I intend to keep plugging away trying to create meaningful content, trying to help as many people as possible and add value whereever I can.

Best wishes
Julian

Re: Is Social Media The Right Term?

Ann — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:32:42 -0000

Hi Gordon, you make some great points especially about 'social' not being something new. I really do think it is moving into a different phase where we will see the good, the bad and the ugly unfortunately. Social brands, organisations and institutions have the ability to build communities around them. I think we focus too much on social media and its relationship to economics and not enough on social capital/social connections and their affinity with economics. Which then brings us to exploring social economics (another time maybe.)

I believe that the successful brands of the future will stimulate social and particularly social capital as a means to developing strong social fabric not just in the places we live but, within the spaces that we work too in ways we are still trying to imagine and articulate. Thanks for contributing, you have moved the conversation on!

Re: Is Social Media The Right Term?

SocialTechno — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:25:53 -0000

Thanks for stimulating this conversation, Ann. There's one phrase that you have missed, and that is 'Social Tools'. I first strated attending David Gurteen's Social Tools seminars in 2005, where I met people like Euan Semple, Stowe Boyd, and Lee Bryant. I still like the term because it emphasises the two most significant aspects of the change ... that we have new tools and technologies that enable communication between people, and they are cheap enough and widely enough available that they can be put into many people's hands rapidly. I think of projects like Ushadidi and of course Childsi, which Anne McX has been involved in.

Looking through the various terms you discuss, I'd say there is definitely a clash between two meanings of 'social'; one pertaining to friendship and companionship , and the other pertaining to the organisation of society.
Society is not always a nice, cosy, touchy-feely thing. Sometimes the social structures that bind people together create relationship of serious inequality, where you don't count if you didn't attend the right school or church, or play golf, or get invited to the right partiers, can't bribe the right official or get in the good books of the right gang leader.

Collectives are not always good, and individuals are not always bad. In fact, one of the defining characteristics of society in Europe since the Reformation has been the importance of freedom of association: to allow everyone (or achieve for everyone) the right to choose their neighbours,their friends, their workmates, their church, and freely to participate in whatever social networks and groups they feel best reflects their ethics and values and allows them to build the world they want . The term 'social' covers all of this, the nice and the nasty alike, but I do feel that the proliferation of social tools to support new forms of communicating and organising is an unqualified good, because more people will be able to do what they believe in.

You mention marketing a lot, and I do feel that the term 'social media' has been horribly diminished over the years. "You can publish a blog." is an empowering statement. "You can get bloggers to promote your brand" is not. The first time I met Lee Bryant, he had a reputation for his humanitarian work in Eastern Europe, now he's advising multi-national corporations. This is a good thing, as far as I'm concerned, because social business has huge potential, and I want to see it adopted in every kind of organisation, but I worry a lot that we will lose the potential and miss the magic if we allow the 'social' meme to be absorbed and co-opted by twentieth century corportae marketing.

People describe 'social' as something brand new and a fundamental shift in business. That is only true from the point of view of the organisations that have something to lose. For everyone else, it's business-as-usual, but with a much bigger upside than ever before! The situation is very much like the Reformation. Before Gutenberg, people could discuss the Bible, but they couldn't compete with the power of the Catholic Church. Martin Luther was able to publish his theses and distribute them through a social network. The challenge, then as now, is diminishing returns to hierarchy. Since the industrial revolution, there have been real advantages to hierarchical organisations, because they could do things non-hierarchical organisations couldn't. Now that's not true, we need to look anew at how we organise for creativity, productivity and the best use of resources, and how we create the most value we can with what we have.

Re: Is Social Media The Right Term?

Ann — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:06:05 -0000

Definitely Jonathan. I'm just doing some research for a keynote I'm delivering on 'Social Capital' in September and that is what that is about. We have been too focused on human capital and forgotten how important social capital is ie: our connections and networks. Thanks for commenting!

Re: Is Social Media The Right Term?

Ann — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:04:22 -0000

Absolutely Anne, like your bit about designing for connections rather than divisions. Perhaps its also about designing for freedom of innovation rather than surveillance of compliance!

Re: Is Social Media The Right Term?

Jonathan Lea — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:39:01 -0000

Interesting definitions which I'll probably refer to again, although as you say I'm sure they'll keep evolving! Building on Anne's point about organisations now not being fixed things with walls and a logo, it seems to me that organisation now is more about the strength of a connected individual, their virtual networks and access to people and information - infostructure, as opposed to the physical infrastructure that was necessary to organise in a pre-digital world.

Re: Is Social Media The Right Term?

Anne McCrossan — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:32:17 -0000

Yes, exactly. It an an act of being and of designing for connections now instead of divisions. The trick for many organisations is to keep the existing equity of their brands intact, and to enhance it appropriately to generate value, as the fabric of their existing business changes shape fundamentally.