1. From the United States, how has social media changed your life? How about the lives of your other family members?
I twitter to keep “friends” up-to-date. I blog about major events and significant findings on a personal and professional level. I have RSS feeds to my favorite blogs. I find I spend much of my “off” time on the computer. I have found reading and contributing to the social network to be much more than bubble gum for the brain (a saying my wife and I use to refer to the television, meant to refer to the act of causing just enough synaptic activity to keep you alive). All-in-all, I would say it has changed my life quite a bit.
As for my family, most are far behind the power curve if you will. My wife is the only immediate family member that even knows what RSS is or how to subscribe. If I said I “twitted” something to my sisters, brother or parents, I am positive I would get a deer in the headlights look from them. To sum it up…not so much.
2. From the United States, how do you think your personal and business lives will change over the next five years? How about for the rest of your family?
I read Doc Searl’s answers to these questions on Shel Isreal’s blog where he references Project VRM. If this project has any traction, I suspect it will have a major impact on the personal and professional lives of myself and my family members.
As I understand it…a forum will exist for the consumer as a whole to ask for stuff. Vendors will have access to the data and based on the consensus of their applicable market (maybe the whole thing) produce stuff we want. Not produce stuff and then convince us we want it ( AKA modern day marketing ).
The notion of consumers thinking outside the box and asking for features or products that don’t exist yet and allowing all vendors to gain from the collective requests is novel. Good times, I look forward to that day. The prospect of individuals exploring their imagination and coming up with new features and or products could be likened to each of us being inventors of sorts. Now that is exciting!
3. What do you feel are the ascending social media tools and which are descending?
On-line collaboration is definitely ascending. User forums, blogs, Wiki’s Both on a personal and professional level. SAP’s SDN is a prime example of a collaboration tool that has taken off.
Descending social media: 1 900 numbers LOL
4. The folks at SAP are particularly interested in social media’s impact on the global enterprise as well as small to medium-sized corporations. Do you have any knowledge or advice for them?
I am an SAP professional so hopefully my insight has SOME merit. As a Content Administrator of our Enterprise Portal, the tool SAP provides for social media…my advice is make it easier to deliver the tools the business wants. A “Collaboration” room…are you truly kidding. I also have exposure to (I hate to say it) MS Sharepoint. My company uses both interestingly enough. When I compare the two…Sharepoint wins hands down. The ability of the developer to “drag and drop” web parts to deliver the look and feel along with the desired functionality the business wants doesn’t compare to how I have to do that same thing in EP. I had an entire collection up and running in Sharepoint in 30 minutes…no kidding. I have been working on a standup portal in EP for 3 months. Enough said.
5. Do you have any interesting case studies of unique uses of social media?
No not really. Mostly the usual functionality. Forums, Wiki’s, Blog space etc. I would like the senior members of companies to embrace the functionality that they make us build.
6. What social media tools do you use? Which are your favorites? Why.
Answered in question 1…I guess I should have read all the questions before starting.
7. Do you see language as a barrier for social media? Will English become the global language of the Internet? Should it?
I think it could be. As a prior military member, I have had the privilege of serving overseas. While abroad, I learned most developed countries require English classes in school. That being said, most individuals that will /have access the internet can understand a least the most basic of English words and phrases. Most North American people couldn’t read Spanish if their lives depended on it. And Mexico is the closest (non-English primary language) country. If I said, Korean, I could understand why most American’s don’t speak it, but Spanish for goodness sake.
Should it is another question all together. I’ll leave that up to the majority.
8. Are you reading more blogs or less these days? Are you watching more online video or less these days?
Blog reading for sure. On-line videos…not so much. I don’t feel a great deal of growth from watching a bunch of videos of people mimicking the “Jack Ass” franchise.
9. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Working for myself….building the next generation of business solutions with some of the brightest people I know.
