Web 2.x Blog

We found an ALIEN source!!!! OMG……..

On 4th August, word spreaded out from Durban University of Technology (South Africa) that they have detected the first radio signal from Sagittarius A. This immediately spun speculation and brought media attention that we have detected an “alien intelligence signal.

Not so fast buddy…read here.

What is the problem?

A Russian mainstream media has interpreted the heading and information published from the popular news sharing website, Digg, that an alien intelligence radio signal has been detected in the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The headline from Digg reads “Radio Signal Detected from Beyond Solar System”.

The comments that follow reveals the thought process and interpretation by people associated with the topic. Imagine what would happen when a mainstream media reports on this.

Mainstream media has had a long history of working against the scientific community (from the issues of stem cell to global warming). The general population are not specialist in these fields, and hence the only resource they can rely on are media. Scientific publishings’ (such as New Scientist) are normally very technical, and a normal Joe would fall asleep before finishing even 1/3 of the article.

Misleading news from media like these post a risk to derail the scientific community as a whole, as they are always dependant on funding from government, which are normally elected by the people on the ground holding their own beliefs. Public opinion is always a big part of the key to the survival of various scientific ventures.

Let me now give you an analogy on how this also represents a risk in an Enterprise.

The Analogy to the Enterprise and the Dangers of false speculations

When a company goes into a crisis, rumors or misleading news can be the greatest weapon working against a firm. Mis-interpreted statements from the top often transforms into rumors/speculations and can have an adverse impact on both the employees in an organization, as well as the market.

Certain rumors/speculations can contribute to the sudden increment in the attrition rate of a company. In some cases where human resources are key to the business, this can have an immediate impact on the organization. Lost of confidence to the company could see the market capitalization of a company falling through the roof, almost typically resulting in an acquisition to be followed soon after.

In effect, when someone posted on the forum “We are getting a bought out next week” or “NYSE says we are being de-listed from the stock exchange”, what would be your first reaction?

Can Social Technology (Enterprise 2.0) exacerbate the situation???

Social platforms (Enterprise 2.0 platform) offers a free platform for employees (or external customers) to self-express themselves. Reputations systems are built in (such as Jive Software’s Clearspace, where a green tick is allocated to each post where the query has been deemed answered) to judge and mark posts and answers.

In order to encourage adoption of Enterprise 2.0, a draconian approach to controlling information contribution is not going to work out. Without any proper information governance policy dictating the contribution of Enterprise 2.0, how can management prevent employees from posting dangerous rumors that can potentially derail the company during critical times? What does management have to do to prevent all this in the first place???

Leveraging the Power of Technology and People

I like to believe that while Web 2.0 is as much about the people, it is also as much about the technology itself.

People and Technology, when working together, can potentially prevent / reduce the seriousness of the problem. Below are some approaches management, employees and software vendors can adopt to help solve this problem:-

1. Management should pay more attention to the posts or materials contributed in a Enterprise 2.0 platform. When bad posts are detected, management should not react negatively to the posts but rather understand the motive behind it. The reaction of management normally lends weight to the bad rumors posted. I have seen some firms that have used this method much to their advantage during critical times.
2. Management should be more transparent by posting important announcements (whether it be latest speculation of share price or e.t.c) as they are released. This “proactive” blogging on management’s side can alleviate the risk of being portrayed as sinister and untrust-worthy. The ”CEO Voice”, followed by sections for comments, would perhaps be the best starter.
3. Through pro-active blogging by management, this creates a “conversation” between the upper end of the value chain with the rest. This will create an atmosphere within the company that management will actually “listen” through blog posting and responding to comments, while employees “talk” through contribution of comments.
4. For employees, think carefully when writing a post or blog. Make sure your message is succinct and clear. There are people out there who will more often than not, mis-represent the facts you presented and cause havoc.
5. Certain words/phrases recognition can be designed into an Enterprise 2.0 platform to trigger a message that includes all materials that include those word patterns to be sent to management during a time of crisis. This feature can also be used for employees to create and tailor individual notices that alerts them whenever a topic of their interests are contributed to the overall ecosystem. Is this starting to sound like Google Alert to you???

In summary, the pervasiveness and ease of information distribution via Enterprise 2.0 platforms can once again, bridge that communication gap between management and the employees. Management should not be afraid of the free-form nature that social software provides. At the same time, employees should not abuse the free-form nature to post dangerous comments/rumors.

If you have experienced similar experiences in your organization, feel free to post it here and comment :). I would love to know what your thoughts are on this topic.

Tags: Adoption Strategy, Web 2.0